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On This Day: Manny Pacquiao stuns the boxing world by thrashing Marco Antonio Barrera
Matt Bevan remembers the night Manny Pacquiao arrived
Manny Pacquiao first became known outside of the hardcore boxing fans with a devastating performance to stop Marco Antonio Barrera in the 11th round of their encounter on the 15th November 2003.
The Filipino was already a two weight world champion, but this time he was stepping up in weight to face Barrera for the lineal featherweight title, and the odds were stacked against the future Hall of Famer.
Barrera entered the fight on a good run of form, which included handing Naseem Hamed his only loss and gaining revenge over his hated rival Erik Morales, and the Mexican, who was also at the time a two weight world champion, was expected to have too much for Pacquiao.
The hype surrounding Pacquiao was continuing to grow and he had recently made the transition to fighting American shows, officially leaving his Asian base to pursue the big fights, and the Barrera fight, was as big as a test as Pacquiao could have hoped for.
They headlined the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the site of many great battles including Julio Cesar Chavez against Pernell Whitaker, with HBO broadcasting and the crowd was pro-Barrera from the start. The Filipino was also making his first attempt at the weight and his first round in the big leagues couldn’t have gone much worse.
Pacquiao, who had been working with Freddie Roach since 2001, recovered well and dominated the fight, being too good and far too fast for the Mexican warrior.
Barrera, the betting favourite at 4-1, was blitzed and was down in the third, before surviving the next few rounds. Pacquiao was a whirlwind of punches, overwhelming Barrera, who was once again down in the 11th, which was to be the final round. He also had a point deducted in the 9th when he hit Pacquiao on the break.
Barrera was shell-shocked and had nowhere to turn, and despite his pride, he must have been grateful for his cornerman Rudy Perez stepping on the ring apron, which forced referee Laurence Cole to stop the fight. At the time of the stoppage, Manny was ahead on all three scorecards, 97-89 and 97-90 twice.
Both men’s storied careers continued following the fight, with Barrera looking to be on the slide, until he picked up a rejuvenating victory over Morales, their third clash, to become a three weight world champion.
He retired in 2011 and there is no doubt his place in the Hall of Fame is secure, when his ballot comes up. As for Pacquiao he is still going strong, but his career is on the line next weekend when he defends his WBO welterweight belt against Chris Algieri in Macau.
This was one of the greatest Pacquiao performance’s we have seen and HBO commentator, Larry Merchant, probably summed it up the best, when he said: “This is a fight that will shake up the boxing world”.
He was spot-on as Manny Pacquiao had arrived in the big leagues and would shake up the boxing world many more times over the coming years.
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/on-t...tonio-barrera/
Matt Bevan remembers the night Manny Pacquiao arrived
Manny Pacquiao first became known outside of the hardcore boxing fans with a devastating performance to stop Marco Antonio Barrera in the 11th round of their encounter on the 15th November 2003.
The Filipino was already a two weight world champion, but this time he was stepping up in weight to face Barrera for the lineal featherweight title, and the odds were stacked against the future Hall of Famer.
Barrera entered the fight on a good run of form, which included handing Naseem Hamed his only loss and gaining revenge over his hated rival Erik Morales, and the Mexican, who was also at the time a two weight world champion, was expected to have too much for Pacquiao.
The hype surrounding Pacquiao was continuing to grow and he had recently made the transition to fighting American shows, officially leaving his Asian base to pursue the big fights, and the Barrera fight, was as big as a test as Pacquiao could have hoped for.
They headlined the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the site of many great battles including Julio Cesar Chavez against Pernell Whitaker, with HBO broadcasting and the crowd was pro-Barrera from the start. The Filipino was also making his first attempt at the weight and his first round in the big leagues couldn’t have gone much worse.
Pacquiao, who had been working with Freddie Roach since 2001, recovered well and dominated the fight, being too good and far too fast for the Mexican warrior.
Barrera, the betting favourite at 4-1, was blitzed and was down in the third, before surviving the next few rounds. Pacquiao was a whirlwind of punches, overwhelming Barrera, who was once again down in the 11th, which was to be the final round. He also had a point deducted in the 9th when he hit Pacquiao on the break.
Barrera was shell-shocked and had nowhere to turn, and despite his pride, he must have been grateful for his cornerman Rudy Perez stepping on the ring apron, which forced referee Laurence Cole to stop the fight. At the time of the stoppage, Manny was ahead on all three scorecards, 97-89 and 97-90 twice.
Both men’s storied careers continued following the fight, with Barrera looking to be on the slide, until he picked up a rejuvenating victory over Morales, their third clash, to become a three weight world champion.
He retired in 2011 and there is no doubt his place in the Hall of Fame is secure, when his ballot comes up. As for Pacquiao he is still going strong, but his career is on the line next weekend when he defends his WBO welterweight belt against Chris Algieri in Macau.
This was one of the greatest Pacquiao performance’s we have seen and HBO commentator, Larry Merchant, probably summed it up the best, when he said: “This is a fight that will shake up the boxing world”.
He was spot-on as Manny Pacquiao had arrived in the big leagues and would shake up the boxing world many more times over the coming years.
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/on-t...tonio-barrera/
Watching these highlights again, it seems like this fight is from another planet. 10 years ago, on the undercard of Oscar de la Hoya's fight with Javier Castillejo, a Freddie Roach-trained Filipino super bantamweight named Manny Pacquiao fought in the United States for the first time. George Foreman didn't know his name. Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley were just hoping he could fight. Though Pacquiao had held a title at flyweight, he was now fighting three divisions higher, had had zero U.S. exposure, and frankly it wasn't exactly a time when Filipino fighters were getting famous.
Ledwaba (33-1-1 coming in) was such a big favorite that Vegas didn't even have odds on the fight. Pacquiao, then 22 years old, was a late injury replacement for Enrique Sanchez, and he broke the slick South African's nose in the opening round and really never relented, battering the titleholder en route to a totally one-sided stoppage in the sixth round. This was the very fight that alerted fans outside of the Philippines that there was a fighter named Manny Pacquiao who packed some serious power, and come hell or high water was going to use it, even on a world-class opponent like Ledwaba. It would still be a couple of years before he became a star, but this was the arrival.
http://www.badlefthook.com/2011/4/27...arrera-ledwaba
Ledwaba (33-1-1 coming in) was such a big favorite that Vegas didn't even have odds on the fight. Pacquiao, then 22 years old, was a late injury replacement for Enrique Sanchez, and he broke the slick South African's nose in the opening round and really never relented, battering the titleholder en route to a totally one-sided stoppage in the sixth round. This was the very fight that alerted fans outside of the Philippines that there was a fighter named Manny Pacquiao who packed some serious power, and come hell or high water was going to use it, even on a world-class opponent like Ledwaba. It would still be a couple of years before he became a star, but this was the arrival.
http://www.badlefthook.com/2011/4/27...arrera-ledwaba
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