SULAIMAN SAYS BARRERA WILL RUN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 05 Sep 2007
WBC president Jose Sulaiman says he believes legendary Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera will run when he meets Filipino idol Manny Pacquiao in an eagerly awaited rematch at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel & Casino on October 6.
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today from his home in Mexico City, the esteemed WBC president said “although Barrera is doing very well and definitely training very hard, Pacquiao is much stronger than him.”
Sulaiman said his opinion was that Barrera “is gonna run and try to box” the Filipino southpaw to have any chance of avenging his demolition in eleven rounds at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas in November 2003.
The WBC president expressed his concern over the illness of Pacquiao last weekend and said “I hope it was not too much.” When reassured by us that we were at Pacquiao’s training camp and covered his preparation for a Viva Sports pre-fight TV special and he was doing fine, Don Jose was relieved saying “that’s very good, very good.”
Pacquiao’s Filipino trainer Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez told us Wednesday morning that Pacquiao didn’t push himself too hard and ran for some 21 minutes along the flatland at the IT Park opposite the Waterfront Hotel where Team Pacquiao is billeted. The assistant to the celebrated Freddie Roach said it was a “speed run” and Pacquiao was “doing well.”
Fernandez said Pacquiao was set to spar in the afternoon at the RWS Gym of close friend and confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud against Mexican’s Raymund Beltran and David Rodela and Filipinos Arnel Tinampay and Aaron Melgarejo.
Barrera who entered his fifth week of training at a high altitude training camp in Guadalajara told Eastside boxing he was “not just fighting for personal revenge. I am fighting for my country and my fellow Mexican fighters who have fallen victim to Pacquiao. I am training harder that I ever have . I want to beat Manny so badly I can taste it. This goes beyond being personal. For me this fight is about restoring national pride.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Crawford Not the First Lightweight to Distinguish Himself at Super Middleweight
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Tue, 16 Sep 2025SAMBO Pilipinas is Southern NSA of the Year 2025
By Lito delos Reyes, Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Smarts over power
By Joaquin Henson, Tue, 16 Sep 2025HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
Tue, 16 Sep 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
By Maloney L. Samaco, Mon, 15 Sep 2025A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025