By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach both want HBO to bring on Marco Antonio Barrera without wasting time so they could once and for all settle the issue with the legendary Mexican who has consistently claimed he had an off night when Pacquiao annihilated him in eleven rounds in San Antonio, Texas on November 1, 2003. Earlier, international promoter Murad Muhammad who handles Pacquiao’s fights noted that “Barrera claims his head wasn’t right in the first fight. If he wants to redeem himself we will be happy to accommodate him.”
Prior to leaving his home in General Santos City for his training camp in Davao City on Sunday after watching Barrera win a close “fight for the ages” against Erik Morales, Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard “Barrera keeps saying he had so much on his mind in our fight and he was not the same fighter. Let’s settle this issue once and for all and let’s do it now. Let’s have the rematch. I am ready to take on anybody who wants to fight the Pac-man. Bring them on. I don’t care who comes first, Barrera or (Juan Manuel) Marquez” the WBA/IBF champion who is slated to fight Pacquiao on February 26.
Roach said a rematch in February or early March “is a natural because Barrera has been making excuses. We are ready to fight him right away. It will be a much bigger fight than a rematch with Marquez . Barrera is the man.” Roach said the fans “want to see a Pacquiao-Barrera rematch so bring him right up, right now and let’s clear up the air. It’s the biggest fight in the world. We’ll see whether he will have another bad night. That’s the way to go. The Mexicans love Barrera more than Marquez and they have told me they want a rematch. He is coming off a very good win and its fresh in people’s minds.” Roach also pointed out that “nobody knew who Marquez was until he fought Manny so let him wait for the winner of the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch.”
Roach praised Barrera for a “good fight” against Morales and said he won because he was “tougher and more aggressive.” However, he was confident that Barrera “can’t handle the speed and power” of Pacquiao. After watching the classic epic battle with Morales, Roach Barrera was “basically the same guy. If you let him fight at his own pace, he will eat you up.”
While talking about a Barrera rematch, Roach stressed that Pacquiao has to concentrate on his December 11 tune-up fight against Fahsan 3K Battery, the IBF No. 4 super bantamweight pointing out that Fahsan who had beaten over 20 Filipinos, most of them by knockout, “is a tough guy and I expect him to bring his “A” game to the fight. He will fight way over his head than he ever has and that’s why Manny has to be in shape like he was for Barrera and Marquez. There’s no rematch with Barrera or Marquez if Manny doesn’t win over Fahsan” and despite the excitement of a rematch with Barrera, Roach said Pacquiao “is thinking about Fahsan right now. We are working on the right cross of Manny and we’ll use it to knock this guy out.”
