Pacquiao wins as a gentleman

By Recah Trinidad
Inquirer

LAS VEGAS–Manny Pacquiao, landing sporadic big shots but failing to follow up, carved out a unanimous decision victory over Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, who later announced his retirement at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino here (Sunday in Manila).

The wily Mexican, shaken by a thunderclap combination, threw a dirty right cross off a clinch late in the 11th round, a foul blow that visibly saved him from a crushing onslaught.

Referee Tony Weeks called an instant halt to the most furious, suspenseful moment in the 12-round bout and slapped a point deduction against Barrera, who wisely used the break to clear his head and steady himself up.

There were no knockdowns and, although it was not the exact final outcome expected by Filipinos in the 10,000-strong crowd, the points verdict would prove inevitable after the combatants, showing respect for each other, overemphasized on defense, clean and otherwise.

Pacquiao, who fought like a true gentleman, was often on top of the action and managed to catch Barrera with hefty shots from either hand.

But the battle-scarred Mexican rode on guile and experience to make good his vow of putting up an entirely different stand from the one he had when Pacquiao stopped him in their first encounter four years ago.

By a plain look, Barrera managed to win only three rounds in the contest which he succeeded in preventing from turning into a full-scale slug-out also by warding off attacks with his left jab and repeatedly moving away from the ever-charging Pacquiao.

Judges Jerry Roth and Glenn Trowbridge scored it an identical 118-109 for Pacquiao, while Tom Schreck scored it 115-112, also for Pacquiao.

This writer saw Pacquiao the winner, 117-110.

Visibly pleased with what he had achieved, if not with his desperate escape act in the 11th round, Barrera formally announced he was putting the curtains down on his 17-year ring career that saw him win titles in three divisions, a feat that has ensured him enrollment in the boxing Hall of Fame.

Barrera blamed himself for being carried away and getting caught in wild exchanges a few times, thus betraying his plan to merely finish with his pride intact.

“I should’ve not stayed in those exchanges, I should’ve boxed more,” he explained in the post-fight press conference at the media room that teemed with people, including his wife and charming kids.

“In the later rounds, my corner was telling me I have to go after him but it was very, very hard because he had such a strong defense, it was very hard to break through,” Barrera added.

Pacquiao returned the compliment and said his preparation and training helped him go the distance.

“He is still a good fighter, so I had to be careful throughout the fight,” Pacquiao explained from the podium which he shared with Barrera.

Pacquiao said he was not worried about the fight going to the scorecards.

“I tried to give people a good show and I hope people liked this fight,” he said.

Pacquiao said he was satisfied with the win, although this was not clearly the case with most Filipinos in the audience.

There was the overriding belief that Pacquiao, at his peak, would have run over the retirement-bound Barrera in their second encounter in four years.

If there was a man truly fulfilled in this fight, it was trainer Freddie Roach who was very pleased to announce that Pacquiao, after Sunday’s fight, had evolved into a well-rounded warrior.

Roach said Pacquiao, a feared slasher, had shown tremendous improvement in defense.

“Manny boxed well and showed good footwork, which was what we worked at. Manny cut him off and moved him to the right, which was a beautiful thing,” he said.

While Barrera made his formal exit from the ring, Pacquiao said he was planning to move up in weight, a result of his having to wrestle frantically with the scales after he barely made the 130-lb limit for his second and last super featherweight fight with Barrera.

Before the fight, the Barrera camp had claimed it had a total of four fight plots ready for Pacquiao who, on the other hand, was given strict orders to go for an early knockout.

All these strategies did not materialize.

Of course, the greatest result of the bout was the sudden bonding that saw Pacquiao bunched with Barrera and his beautiful kids, a newfound friendship that was recorded in photographs and a mutual vow that the two excellent fighters, the bitterest of rivals, never will fight each other again.

Share This