This post was due last Sunday but due to my busy schedule, I wasn’t able to finish it and publish it. These are my thoughts on the recent Pacquaio vs Barrera 2 – Will to Win fight.

I watched the fight live via PPV at my friend’s house. While watching the undercards, I was getting excited and anxious to watch the main event. I was expecting a thrilling boxing match because before the fight, Marco Antonio Barrera said that Pacquiao would be in the fight of his life and that he would emerge as the new no. 1 pound for pound fighter and also because this was gonna be his last fight before he retires from boxing. I expected him to use a different strategy and go all out on this one. On the other hand, I expected Pacquiao to prove that his previous win over Barrera wasn’t a fluke and would want to knock him out as early as possible. I knew he could beat Barrera but I was a bit worried because I’ve heard and read reports that he wasn’t 100% ready and that he didn’t prepare or train well for the fight. He even barely made the required weight and had to rehydrate quickly before the fight.

Yes, Pacquaio won by unanimous decision but that wasn’t what his fans wanted and what most people expected. Fellow blogger Sonnie even thought it was boring, but he pointed out several lessons we could learn from the fight. I’m sure almost everyone expected a knockout or even a knockdown from Pacquiao or Barrera to fight better than their previous match. The only knockout that Manny Pacquiao scored was on Derek’s blog which crashed due to the traffic surge for his post Watch Pacquiao VS Barrera II LIVE! for FREE?

Inspite of his corner’s instructions to be more aggressive, Barrera continued on his “technical” fighting strategy. He boasted that he had a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C. I think his Plan A was to be a technical boxer, Plan B was to make sure Pacquiao doesn’t knock him out and Plan C was to get his revenge on Pacquiao by hitting him while the referee was trying to break them up. I couldn’t believe when Barrera said that he shouldn’t have been penalized for that hit. It was nothing but a cheapshot and I don’t blame Manny for acting up a bit to show that he was hurt. Some people say that he lost the momentum by doing it but I’m sure he knew he was ahead in points and was winning the fight so might as well make sure Barrera loses a point for it. I also admire Manny for not retaliating and being a good sport.

In fairness to both fighters, I think everyone expected too much from both of them. Barrera fought the way he wanted to and ended his career in his own terms. As a fan, I’m glad that Pacquiao won this fight but I’m disappointed on how he lost focus and how he lazily prepared for this fight. I hope he learns from this experience and start to prioritize and focus more on boxing rather than doing commercials, filming movies and other distractions if he wants to continue his boxing career that is.

How about you guys? What do you think of the fight? Were you disappointed or did you expect the fight to go that way? Share your thoughts.

A few more days to go. I can’t wait! I’m too excited to see this match. I still don’t know where I’m gonna watch it coz here in the US, you either watch it live in Vegas or watch it thru PPV. It kinda sucks coz in the Philippines, I could watch it for free even though it’s a bit delayed.

Dubbed as the “Grand Finale”, Pacquiao vs. Morales 3 will be the deciding match for this great rivalry. This rivalry could easily be one of the best rivalries in boxing history and is likened to the Barrera-Morales and Gatti-Ward rivalries. This match is also the most awaited fight of the year for boxing fans around the world. This match could easily be the “Fight of the Year” because of the drama and history involved and also because of the talent of this two great fighters.

Erik “El Terible” Morales & Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao

With both fighters having a win over each other, Pacquiao and Morales are eager and determined to prove to the world who really is the best boxer. Morales would be coming to the ring at 132 lbs instead of the initially agreed weight of 130 which is considered as an advantage for him. Pacquiao, on the other hand would be relying on stamina and punching power to make this match go his way.

“I am the best super featherweight in the world and I cannot wait to prove it to Erik Morales…again. Morales will fee the strength of the people of The Philippines behind every punch I land on him. This may be the ‘Grand Finale’ on our trilogy, but it is just the beginning for Manny Pacquiao.”

Manny Pacquaio

How I wish I could watch this live at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. I’m sure the tickets are gonna be pretty expensive and hard to get but if I had the money, I would definitely get myself tickets. But if in case I don’t get to watch the live or replay match, all I want is for Manny Pacquiao to win and make us Filipinos proud.

Go Pacman!

November 18 @ 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

Image source: Toprank.com

I’m not really an avid fan of mixed martial arts or of the UFC. I don’t get to watch most of the good fights coz it’s on PPV. But if I can, I do spend time to watch matches when they’re as good as this.

For those who know their UFC, the Ortiz – Shamrock rivalry is one of the most intense rivalries in the UFC. It’s not a scripted thing like the ones you see on WWE or TNT wrestling. They both really hate each other. Their previous match was shortlived and many of the fans were disappointed about it. So this time, UFC will air this match for free at Spike TV. This time, I hope that they would have a well fought match. Something that the fans and viewers are expecting from these two great athletes.

The promoters of this match has dubbed it as the Final Chapter. Who do you think will win, Tito Ortiz or Ken Shamrock? We’ll have to see if it would really be the last. Strange things could happen that would start something new.

Check your local cable listings.