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.

If you missed the fight and would like to know the details of the Pacquiao vs Barrera II – Will to Win match, here’s a round by round account provided by the guys from ESPN.

Round 1
Both men circling and jabbing. Each man reaches for the other’s body with straight punches. Clearly plenty of mutual respect here. They exchange flurries toward the end of the round as the crowd roars, although Pacquiao’s seem slightly stronger. Tough round to score, and there is a sense the fight could explode at any time.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 2
Left-right-left from Pacquiao, Barrera replies with a combinatioon of his own. Left/right from Pacquiao. A left and double right hand from Barrera, Right from Pacquiao just misses. Flurries from Pacquiao just fall short. Barrera showing good defense.
Dan Rafael scores it: Barrera, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Barrera, 10-9

Round 3
Pacquiao is stalking Barrera, coming forward, and Barrera is moving backward, looking to lure Pacquiao in and counter. Pacquiao lands a left and Barrera responds with a one-two. A right from Pacquiao and another. Barrera circles and jabs and follows with a straight right and Pacquiao lands a right at the bell as Barrera circles away.
Dan Rafael scores it: Barrera, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 4
Pacquiao lands a good right, and Barrera responds with a left and the two trade. Pacquiao is changing up his tactics a little, looking to move in, fire off a couple of shots and move out before Barrera can counter. A solid right from Pacquiao, and a leaping left just misses. A left/right lands from Pacquiao.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 5
Pacquiao trying to move to his right, to prevent Barrera circling to his left. Nice uppercut inside from Barrera. Pacquiao flurries but Barrera responds with another straight left. Hook lands from Barrera. Pacquiao lands a left, Barrera a right and they exchange furiously against the ropes. Left/right from Pacquiao, and another, and the fight is really underway now.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 6
Left/right from Pacquiao drives Barrera to the ropes, and Pacquiao flurries. Right hand to the body from Barrera. Left from Pacquiao, a sharp counter right to the jaw from Barrera, and they unload on each other again. Pacquiao drives Barrera to the ropes, and lands a beautiful combination to body and head. Barrera is fighting back, but Pacquiao is more active, and his punches are heavier.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 7
Pacquiao lands a straight left down the middle behind a right jab. Barrera hooks to the body. Barrera is circling, but isn’t throwing much. A quietr round, but the offense is coming from Pacquiao who isn’t giving Barrera much room to counter.
Dan Rafael scores it: Barrera, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 8
Right/left from Barrera. Left lands from Pacquiao, and Barrera responds with a right. A left/right from Barrera as the pace slows a little and seemingly to his advantage. A right/left from Pacquiao misses, and Barrera lands a left. But then Pacquiao turns it up and lands a solid right hand on the button, and then another.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 9
Left from Pacquiao, and a right. He drives Barrera to the ropes, and Barrera fights him off with a flurry. A nice left lands from Barrera, but a better one lands from Pacquiao. A four-punch combination from Barrera, but Pacquiao blocks most of it. Solid right/left from Pacquiao, but again Barrera responds with a furious flurry.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 10
Pacquiao is starting to land straight right hands, as Barrera circles away. Barrera flicking out a consistent jab, but Pacquiao landing the greater power punches, including a solid right behind a straight left that catches Barrera’s attention. A quieter round.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9

Round 11
Solid left hand from Pacquiao, and then another. Barrera throws a looping left hook that falls short. Barrera lands a right to the head and another furious exchange. A big right/left from Pacquiao sends Barrera backward, and another. Barrera flurries, and another right-left from Pacquiao hurts him. Barrera hits Pacquiao on the break, and referee Tony Weeks calls a time out and deducts a point. Nasty, nasty cut under Barrera’s right eye now.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-8
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Pacquiao, 10-8

Round 12
Barrera tries to land a combination, but slips to the floor as Pacquiao moves to one side. Both men land solid right hands. Pacquiao circles and waves in Barrera, who makes one last effort to land a combination. But it looks like it is probably too little, too late. Then again, some of the rounds were very close, so who knows? It’s time for the judges to decide.
Dan Rafael scores it: Pacquiao, 10-9
Kieran Mulvaney scores it: Barrera, 10-9

Manny Pacquiao defeats Marco Antonio Barrera by unanimous decision (118-109 twice, 115-112).

I’ll talk more about the fight in my next post. Congratulations Manny!

image source: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Tomorrow, October 6 Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines will once again face Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera in a 12 round match for the super featherweight title dubbed as “Will to Win”.

The last time they fought, Pacquiao totally outclassed and floored the “Baby Faced Assassin” three times before Barrera’s corner threw in the towel in the 11th round. This time both boxers have something to prove, Barrera is determined to prove that he is the better boxer while Pacquiao wants to prove that his win was not a fluke.

Here’s what both fighters have to say about each other and the coming fight:

“Fighting Barrera is a career highlight for me,” “He has already beaten great world champions like Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed and Johnny Tapia and I know I am going to have to train harder than I ever have before to beat him. But I am fully prepared to sacrifice and do everything necessary to beat him. And I will. It’s going to be another exciting night for fight fans.” – Manny Pacquiao

“Pacquiao and I have one thing in common and that is this is the fight we have most wanted,” “But Pacquiao should have been more careful for what he wished for because he is going to be in the fight of his life. The battle is on and I am going to leave the ring as boxing’s new No. 1 pound for pound fighter.” – Marco Antonio Barrera

Many boxing analysts consider Pacquiao vs Barrera II as the fight of the year. I’m sure this match will be both exciting and thrilling and expect both fighters to go all out. Barrera never backs down from a challenge while Pacquiao is known as a no guts no glory type of fighter.

As a proud Filipino, I’ll be rooting for Manny and hope that he wins. How about you, who do you think will win this fight? Will history repeat itself or will this be a prelude to a Pacquiao-Barrera trilogy? Share your thoughts.

image source: HBO Boxing