Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera 2

Four years after being stopped in eleven rounds, Marco Antonio Barrera succeeded in remaining on his feet until the final bell, but he came no nearer to mastering the speed and movement of Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino retained his WBC International super-featherweight title by unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on October 6, 2007, winning by scores of 118-109 from judges Jerry Roth and Glenn Trowbridge and 115-112 from Tom Schreck.

The rematch followed Pacquiao’s decisive victory at San Antonio in November 2003, when Barrera’s corner ended the contest during the eleventh round. Much had happened since then. Barrera had rebuilt his position, defeated Erik Morales in their third meeting and held the WBC super-featherweight championship before losing it to Juan Manuel Márquez seven months before facing Pacquiao again. Pacquiao had meanwhile strengthened his standing with victories over Morales and entered at 44-3-2. Both men weighed the division limit of 130 pounds. Pacquiao received a guaranteed purse of $2 million, and the promotion, billed as “Will to Win,” was staged jointly by Top Rank and Golden Boy after their dispute over his promotional rights had been settled.

Barrera’s first-fight aggression was replaced by a more cautious plan. He remained on the outside, circled away from Pacquiao’s left hand and attempted to counter when the southpaw moved forward. The opening round was measured, with Barrera using his jab and footwork to prevent Pacquiao from immediately establishing his customary pace. He was unwilling to stand in front of the younger man for long, having already discovered the consequences of doing so four years earlier.

Pacquiao began to take command as the contest progressed. His greater hand speed enabled him to cross the distance before Barrera could set himself, and he repeatedly followed the jab with the straight left. Barrera remained technically composed and caught Pacquiao with occasional right hands, but his work was largely defensive. Whenever the Mexican attempted to open an exchange, Pacquiao answered with the quicker combination and moved away before the reply. The action lacked the sustained violence of their first meeting because Barrera would not allow himself to be drawn into the same fight.

Through the middle rounds, Pacquiao increased his activity without becoming careless. He attacked in short bursts, changed his angle after punching and kept Barrera occupied with feints and quick advances. Barrera’s jab and right hand continued to find the target intermittently, but he could not hold the centre or force Pacquiao to fight at a slower pace. There were no knockdowns, and neither man came close to being stopped. The difference lay in the frequency and accuracy of Pacquiao’s work. Barrera was surviving comfortably enough, but he was not winning sufficient exchanges.

By the ninth and tenth rounds, Barrera required a marked change in tactics, yet remained reluctant to commit himself. Pacquiao continued to step inside behind rapid punches and then withdraw before Barrera could counter effectively. The Mexican became increasingly frustrated by the speed disadvantage. Late in the tenth, referee Tony Weeks moved between them during a break, and Pacquiao let a punch go after the intervention. Barrera objected, and there was further irritation at the bell when Pacquiao moved towards him after the round had ended. The exchanges between rounds were becoming more heated than much of the boxing.

The hostility carried into the eleventh. Barrera suffered a deep cut beneath the right eye during the round; the official bout record attributed the injury to a clash of heads, although some contemporary accounts credited a Pacquiao punch. The sight of blood prompted Pacquiao to attack with greater purpose, and Barrera responded with a blatant blow after Weeks had called for a break. The punch caught Pacquiao around the head and briefly staggered him. Weeks immediately halted the action and deducted a point from Barrera. Pacquiao recovered quickly and resumed his advance, leaving the veteran Mexican requiring a knockout in the final round.

Barrera made no reckless attempt to obtain it. He continued boxing carefully in the twelfth, seeking counters while Pacquiao maintained control and avoided unnecessary risks. Both remained upright to the bell, and the verdict was never in serious doubt. The margin of 115-112 returned by Schreck was considerably narrower than the general view at ringside. Pacquiao was credited with landing 256 of 694 punches, including 176 power blows, while Barrera connected with only 120 in total, 81 of them power punches. Pacquiao also held an 80-39 advantage in landed jabs. The figures reflected a contest in which Barrera defended with intelligence but attacked too little to reverse the result.

The victory raised Pacquiao’s record to 45-3-2 and completed his fifth defence of the WBC International title. Barrera fell to 63-6 and spoke afterwards of retirement, although he subsequently returned to the ring. He fought with greater caution and discipline than in their first contest, preventing Pacquiao from overwhelming him, but the change in approach brought only a different kind of defeat. Pacquiao’s speed, punch volume and command of distance carried him through twelve rounds with room to spare, confirming once again that Barrera, for all his experience and accomplishments, had no reliable answer to him.

It was a shame to see Barrera in survival mode. That was not the Barrera of old. He didn’t want to risk a repeat of their first fight. The great Mexican knew that trading with Manny Pacquiao had ended badly four years earlier, so this time he boxed cautiously, kept his guard tight and moved away from the left hand. It helped him survive, but it did very little to help him win.

Pacquiao was simply too quick. He stepped into range, delivered two or three punches and changed position before Barrera could organise a reply. Barrera occasionally found him with the right hand, but there was no sustained ambition behind his work. He spent too much time waiting to counter a fighter whose feet and reactions were faster. By the middle rounds, the pattern was fixed, and Barrera had no alternative plan.

The frustration showed late when Barrera struck after the referee had called a break and lost a point. That was not the behaviour of a man who believed he was controlling the contest. The decision was absolutely correct, and one of the official cards was far too kind to Barrera. I respect the Mexican enormously; his fights with Erik Morales belong to boxing history, but this was a bad stylistic match for him at that stage of his career. Pacquiao had improved since their first meeting, while Barrera had merely found a safer way to lose.