I’ll get right to it – Manny Pacquiao will survive the early onslaught of the proud Marco Antonio Barrera, and knock him out to retain his junior lightweight title when they meet this Saturday.
Barrera backers will say that he was not himself in the first fight due to promotional and managerial problems as well as other distractions which left him unable to focus squarely on Pacquiao. I say, it’s simply another post-fight excuse. Based on what I saw in their first bout in November 2003, I saw a faster, more powerful fighter (Pacquiao) batter a game, yet overmatched (Barrera), in a surprisingly one-sided fight.
Nothing has changed in the four years since their first fight, except that both fighters are four years older. It may not seem like much, but those four years have been more taxing on Barrera, as he has been in wars with Erik Morales, Rocky Juarez and Juan Manuel Marquez. PacMan, on the other hand, has only had one true "war," and that was in his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez nearly three years ago.
Look for the sequel to be a near re-run of their first encounter, as Pacquiao’s physical advantages remain the same, coupled with the psychological edge of knowing he stopped Barrera the first time around. I am not underestimating Marco Antonio Barrera’s ring intelligence and overall fighting spirit, but to quote an old Southern saying, "you can’t cook with old grease." As a result, expect the PacMan to gobble up Barrera again, by the ninth round.
