By yours truly. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MARCO ANTONIO BARERRA! By: Andrew Brown The true featherweight champion of the world, Marco Antonio Barrera, was gracious enough to give us this exclusive interview. Because of the fires throughout California, it has certainly been a hectic couple of days for the champ. Marco was kind enough to talk about his camp, his career and his future in boxing. Keep reading to hear more from one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Boxingtime: Have the fires in California affected your camp? Barrera: It has affected us a little bit in the sense that we had been up in Big Bear for a couple of weeks. We were going into the third week and we still had two more weeks to go, so we're being transported over to San Antonio today to finish camp. Boxingtime: So you had to evacuate Big Bear? Barrera: Yeah, Big Bear was a mandatory evacuation yesterday afternoon. Boxingtime: In the last week or so, the boxing world has learned that you have been fighting with a metal plate in your head. Can you tell us about it? Barrera: It's a micro-chip plate. It's very minor, and it was done seven years ago. The surgery was done due to a malformation, and it doesn't affect me at all. Boxingtime: Will it affect the Pacquiao fight? Barrera: No, it has never affected me! The last seven years have been my toughest fights, my best fights - with Naseem Hamed and the two fights with Erik Morales. I've had sixteen fights since then, and by no means will it affect this fight. Boxingtime: Will the boxing commissions see it as a problem? Barrera: No, prior to this becoming public I went through extensive MRI's, cat scans, with the commission of California even though this fight isn't in California. I did this to prove there's nothing wrong, either as a disadvantage or advantage for me or my opponent. Boxingtime: What do you know about Manny Pacquiao? Barrera: He's a great fighter, very strong and hits very hard. Right now he's the best super-bantamweight in the world. Boxingtime: Will we see the patient, counter-punching Barrera in this fight, or will we see the aggressive Barrera of old? Barrera: You will see a combination of both. The aggressive Barrera of the past, and the technician boxer from my last few fights. It also depends on Pacquiao, and what he presents himself with. Boxingtime: In your future do you see a third fight with Erik Morales? Do you still have a score to settle with him? Barrera: Right now, I'm only thinking about Manny Pacquiao. I don't want to think about the future at this moment, I just want to concentrate on Pacquiao. Boxingtime: So you aren't thinking about meeting him at 130 pounds or a catch-weight after the Pacquiao fight? Barrera: I will only meet him at a catch-weight of 128 pounds. I'm a natural 122 pound fighter. I only went up to 126 because all the big fights were there, like Hamed and a rematch with Morales. I have no problem making 122, so I doubt I will ever go all the way up to 130. I will fight Morales, for the fans, at 128 pounds. Boxingtime: Do you have any interest in the winner of the Gainer/Marquez fight on November 1st? Also, who do you like to win that fight? Barrera: Right now I'm just totally disconnected from the boxing world, and only concentrating right now on Manny Pacquiao. I'm sorry I can't answer your question. Boxingtime: In the opinion of many, you are the greatest featherweight of your generation. Is there anything you want to accomplish in the ring before you hang up the gloves? Barrera: First, let me thank everyone who considers me the greatest in the division. Boxing has given me more then I ever expected, and now I just want to give something back to boxing. I want bigger and better fights. Boxingtime: Are we seeing the last of Marco Antonio Barrera? How much longer to you want to fight on? Barrera: I want to fight for about three more years. So no, we haven't seen the last of Marco Barrera. Boxingtime: I just want to touch on the fires in California again. Has this affected your training and preparation is any way? Barrera: No, not at all. Everybody, including Golden Boy Promotions have been on top of things every step of the way. The fires obviously affected a lot of the people in California losing their homes, but I have been able to go through everything and I haven't missed a day of training because I know this fight is a very difficult fight. Boxingtime: How do you feel about being a part of Golden Boy Promotions? Barrera: I'm very happy with the way I'm being treated by Golden Boy Promotions, with their willingness and desire to work. So far it has been great for me. I'm very grateful to be a part of Golden Boy. Boxingtime: Are there any young prospects, perhaps that you spar with, that the boxing public should look out for? Barrera: Yes, there's a young kid that was up in camp with us from Freemont, California. His name is Jose Perez Jnr. He's qualifying for the USA team in the next Olympics. Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: mailto:abrown567@hotmail.com
Notice how it hardly seemed important to talk about Pacquiao at the time. I, and many boxing fans, really thought that was a mismatch. Pacquiao was supposed to be a chinny 122lber moving up to fight a legend. ::
Yep, I like to brag about being one of the few who was picking Pacquiao to win this, and getting into a big argument with MWS on secondsout about it ::. I was a Pacquiao fan, and I never really liked Barrera so I was probably being a bit biased, glad Manny proved me right though ::. I never expected it would be the demolition it ended up being though.
Yeah, we had one guy on Boxingtime who posted under the name "Invincible" that picked Pacquaio... but the only reason he posted was to hype Pac. He was the original Pacquiao groupie I posted with. Amazing to look back at how it's all unfolded. Pacquiao is so much historically greater than MAB now... not even close.
I like how you ask him if he wants to fight the winner of Marquez/Gainer directly following his response that he doesn't want to talk about a third Morales fight because he's not looking past Pacquiao.
Very true, but the Barrera fight is what catapulted him into the upper echelon at the time. Who knows how different things may have been if that fight didn't take place.
Yeah, fair. But I don't think Pacquiao was going to be denied... not with his style and his perceived vulnerabilities at the time.
