Barrera to Manny: Stop chasing Marquez
IF IT were up to Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao should move on and stop chasing another rematch with his rival, Juan Manuel Marquez.
“To me personally, why make a fifth fight?” Barrera said last Friday.
The 39-year-old former three-division world champion is in town to support his fighter, World Boxing Organization (WBO) mini-flyweight titleholder Moises Fuentes, who was set to challenge WBO light fly- weight king Donnie Nietes at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino last night.
If ever Pacquiao lands yet another rematch with Marquez, Barrera isn’t certain of the outcome this time.
“I don’t know who will win for sure. Manny should think about his career if he should continue or not. He is a very good person,” he said.
After winning two of his first three fights with Marquez, Pacquiao suffered a devastating knockout in their fourth encounter De- cember in Las Vegas.
Barrera, who has fought both Pacquiao and Marquez, believes that a knockout like that could have repercussions physically and psychologically.
The Guadalajara native was utterly shocked that Marquez, who isn’t known as a knockout puncher, put Pacquiao to sleep with a single punch.
“It came as a surprise for me because I’m more friends with Manny Pacquiao than Marquez,” said Barrera. “Marquez doesn’t have power. I don’t know what happened. Everybody can see the difference of the Marquez today and the Marquez of the past.”
Marquez was bigger and more ripped in his last fight with Pacquiao compared to their previous bouts. Marquez has been working with Angel Herdia, a conditioning coach that has a history of giving his athletes performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), which got Barrera wondering – “Maybe he has a very good doctor.”