BARRERA OUT TO BREAK MANDALAY BAY JINX
By Emmanuel B. Villaruel
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 20 Sep 2007
Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera is aching to exorcise the ghost that cotinued to haunt haunt him at the Mandalay Bay Hotel Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Barrera even quashed away earlier reports insinuating that he did not want to fight Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao at the famous Mandalay Bay because it is the place where he suffered two of the most important fights of his career - both inflicted by his Mexican compatriots.
The first was dealt by Erik Morales via split decision in their WBC/WBO super bantamweight championship on February 19, 2000. In his previous bout last March 17, Barrera lost his WBC super featherweight belt to Juan Manuel Marquez by 12-round unanimous decision also at the Mandalay.
But Barrera said he felt deep inside him that he won those fights. And now that he is faced with yet another tough odds in his October 6 rematch with Pacman, he is very determined to break the jinx that saddled him at the Mandalay.
"I do not know who made such a statement. It's true that I suffered two losses at the Mandalay Bay but I'm convinced in reality I did not lose them. The judges saw the fight for my opponents, but I'm pretty sure that I won both fights," Barrera told Mexican newspaper Esto en Linea.
"I am going to fight for third occasion there, and they are going to see how I will be going to break that bad gust of wind," added the former three-division world champion.
Barrera said the place where he is going to fight is not all that matters as what is important is his preparation and that the judges would be judicious enough with their decisions.
"I believe that the place where I'm going to fight my rival is the least important. What is important is the preparation and that the jury work correctly," said Barrera.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel B. Villaruel.
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