"Defining Moment"
After Manny Pacquiao’s four impressive knockout victories since the draw against Agapito Sanchez in San Francisco, Pacquiao was not only starting to make boxing fans look, he was also starting to catch the attention of big names in the sport. One of those big names was Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera noticed Pacquiao and said to have seen something in the explosive Filipino that reminded him of himself.
The only difference was that Pacquiao isn’t Mexican. Barrera at that time had just signed with Golden Boy Promotions had requested Richard Shaeffer to arrange a fight against Pacquiao as the Mexican legend did not enjoy watching Pacquiao demolish his Mexican countryman Emmanuel Lucero.
At the time, Pacquiao was being promoted by Murad Muhammad. Muhammad had lofty goals for Pacquiao as he had envisioned for “The Destroyer” to run through the best Mexico and the weight class had to offer and become a household name. Although in hindsight the plan might have been too hasty and ambitious, it proved indeed beneficial for Pacquiao’s career since not only did it give him recognition, it also gave him valuable experience that pushed him to become the fighter he is today. And so the Barrera fight was set for November 15, 2003 in San Antonio, Texas.
Pacquiao entered the ring donning a San Antonio Spurs home Tim Duncan jersey as Pacquiao is a big basketball fanatic. The predominantly Mexican crowd in any case wasn’t having any of it as the numbers dramatically favored Barrera. Pacquiao started the first round focused and determined as he should for the biggest fight of his career yet.
It’s hard to stress enough how significant this fight was for Pacquiao’s career. His determination however would be quickly put to test as he fell victim to another bad case of officiating when he slipped in the beginning of the first round but was ruled a knock down. Pacquiao knew coming in that he was going against the odds and his camp did not expect him to win a decision in Barrera’s backyard. The knockdown ruling only amplified what Pacquiao already knew he was up against as he knew he needed to get a knockout victory in order for him to come out of San Antonio with a win. And that he did.
As if sensing his opportunity quickly slipping away from him before he can even taste it, Pacquiao put forth an inspired effort since the slip. He went for the jugular and laid everything on the line and made no secret of his intentions. He was going to knock Barrera out. Pacquiao constantly attacked Barrera with his right jab and left straight combinations. Pacquiao landed 31 out of 63 power shots in round 2 as his reach, speed and constant motion seemed to have been bothersome for Barrera. Pacquiao’s punches, as skinny as he was then, had that devastating pop usually reserved only for fighters in the heavyweight division. He was throwing haymakers, crosses and straights at Barrera like he was Roger Clemens throwing fast balls in his prime- without the juice of course.
In round 3 Pacquiao carried his momentum from the previous rounds and was able to even the playing field when he floored Barrera with a spine busting hard left straight on the button. Barrera had that befuddled look as he sat on the canvas that seemed to say “what the hell did I get myself into?” As Jim Lampley commented, it was the most desperate he had ever seen Barrera look but the way the fight played out, Pacquiao kept fighting like the desperate man in total disregard of the scorecards.
He just kept going after Barrera as if Barrera was the person who ate his dog as a child. (All kidding aside, one of the incidents that allegedly got Pacquiao into boxing was when he ran away from home back when he was young kid because his father ate his dog) Pacquiao grew up in poverty with challenges and struggles not a lot of people have had to go through. Floyd Mayweather Jr. asked what Pacquiao was doing during the times he was dominating the sport in his teens, well my answer to that would probably be that he was in Manila just trying to find ways to put food in his belly while trying to sustain a career in boxing. The fact that Pacquiao did not have the tools and head start most boxers here in America get just makes his accomplishments all the more impressive.
Pacquiao relentlessly continued his assault on Barrera. He was marking Barrera similar to the way he was reconfiguring oscar De la Hoya’s face last December. Round after round, Pacquiao was looking more and more like the sport’s next superstar. He was throwing combinations straight from a Bruce Lee movie and smiling in the process like he was dealing with a sparring partner. And round after round, Barrera was looking older by the minute. Although Barrera would see better days after this fight like his victory over Morales in the third installment of their trilogy and climbing up as the linear champ of the 130 division, as well as being one of the pound for pound best of the sport, against Pacquiao that night in 2003 however, he looked like a man who needed to hang it up.
Barrera kept fighting though, exposing some chinks in Pacquiao’s armor in the process like leaving himself open whenever he goes for the kill as Barrera tagged him with several good counters. Barrera tried every trick in the book and resorted to some rough tactics when he tried to head butt Pacquiao, but the man from the Philippines was simply too strong, too fast and too good for him that night. He went to war with his AK-47 against a soldier who carried Optimus Prime’s artillery on his back. Barrera was simply outgunned.
The end came in round 11 as Pacquiao kept fighting like he wanted to go 30 more rounds, bombarding Barrera with punches from all angles that seemed to hit every single time. Pacquiao threw jabs, devastating left crosses, straights, upper cuts and the kitchen sink at Barrera. Barrera’s corner in return had to throw in the towel. The night belonged to Pacquiao. From that night on, Pacquiao’s star was born.
Manny Pacquiao has definitely come far from where he started. Check back tomorrow for part four of this article as I chronicle the next few years of Manny Pacquiao's career, as he struggles through adversity fighting the other 2 Mexican legends on top of personal and managerial conflicts that almost destroyed his career.
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