BARRERA WANTS TO SEE PACQUIAO VS MAYWEATHER
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 May 2014
Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao and undefeated American Floyd Mayweather owe it to the entire sporting world to fight before both finally retired.
Thus, declared Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera in an exclusive interview last week during the final press conference for the Donnie Nietes-Moises ?Moi? Fuentes World Boxing Organization light-flyweight championship.
?Yes, I believe both Pacquiao and Mayweather owe it to the people to mix it up before they finally hang their fighting gloves,? the now 40-year-old three-division world titlist told this writer.
?And when I say ?people,? I mean, not only boxing denizens but the entire sporting community as well,? Barrera, a former two-time WBO super-bantamweight, Ring Magazine?s lineal featherweight and WBC-IBF super-featherweight belt-holder clarified.
Asked who does he think will prevail should the fight everybody is waiting materializes, Barrera, who is in the country as Fuentes? manager, quickly retorted: ?Of course, it?s the people who will win. It?s the people who have been dreaming for this fight to be made, so if it pushes through, it is they who would emerge victorious. Not Manny, not Floyd, it?s the fans.?
Barrera added though that the Filipino eight-division champion has the edge in speed and punching power, while Mayweather is the best counter-puncher to have laced the gloves.
?It will be a great fight people will remember and cherish for the remainder of this century. ?It could be the making of the fight of the century, in fact,? Barrera who fought and lost to Pacquiao twice, projected.
?Being, not only the finest welterweight and best boxer in their era, it is but natural that both satisfy those who have been following their colorful and successful boxing career as to who between them is, indeed, the better fighter,? the Guadalajara-based Mexican idol, known also as the ?Baby-faced Assassin? reasoned out.
Barrera, who bore four children with wife Sandra Santana and ranked 43rd on ESPN?s 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time, said had he been in a position of either of the two, he would have obliged the clamor of facing either.
?Unfortunately, I am no longer in a position to do that ? make people happy ? by way of the sport they love most, ? he said. ?But had I been in Manny?s position or Floyd?s, I would have done it.?
?So if both are true to their words to entertain and make people happy, why not fight;. Why not forget pride, misunderstanding and personal feud. Boxing, like all sports, after all, is entertainment. It?s all about making people forget their problems. Just imagine how many will be happy when they face each other,? he declared.
Pacquiao and Barrera fought for the first time on November 16, 2003 with the Filipino prevailing via an 11th round stoppage for his third world title. Pacquiao was also marching triumphantly in their rematch.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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