Pacquiao faced one ready to lose

By Al S. Mendoza

I SAID HERE the last time that Manny Pacquiao will decide who will win in his fight with Marco Antonio Barrera.

He did decide to win and would proceed to score a unanimous decision victory.

With the win, Pacquiao proved he is not greedy, that money isn’t everything in this world.

Had he decided to lose, nobody would have noticed.  Boxing has always been the perfect bait to catch suckers.

A Pacquiao defeat would have avenged Barrera’s 11th-round KO loss to Pacquiao in 2003, and would have immediately called for a Pacquiao-Barrera Trilogy – ensuring a blockbuster at the tills in the mold of the Pacquiao-Morales III in November 2006.

But no, Pacquiao showed to all and sundry that he had pride and honor; he loves his country more than the color of money – at least in that fight with Barrera.  

He’s reached that stature where he could command his take.  Did he not say he wouldn’t fight Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican world champion, if Marquez’ purse was higher than his.

Just right. 

In their first fight in 2004, Pacquiao felled Marquez thrice in the first round – only to end up earning a mere draw result at the hands of the judges.

That was robbery in broad daylight. Pacquiao clearly beat Marquez.  If that fight was held here, no way Pacquiao could not have won it.

After the verdict was announced, one judge, perhaps consumed by guilt, said he had erred.  He said he should have – he thought – he had written down “10-6” in Round 1 for Pacquiao.

What he had written was “10-7,” resulting in a drawn fight. 

In boxing, if you knock down your opponent in a round, you almost automatically win that round by “10-8.”  If you score two knockdowns, the score would be “10-7” and three knockdowns “10-6.”

Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge now, so to speak.

Pacquiao has become a certified world celebrity now, even bigger than Marquez in terms of drawing power.  Nobody can fill up any coliseum now in any lower-division fight except Pacquiao.  Promoters and matchmakers queue to get the attention of Pacquiao, to get Pacquiao to sign up for a fight.

As for Barrera, the one-time darling of the boxing world from Guadalajara, Mexico, he is now technically retired.  He has said it so.  He said his fight with Pacquiao on Oct. 7 was his last.

Just right.  The world doesn’t deserve guys like him.

Barrera fought scared against Pacquiao.

I can understand that.  He has tasted his first knockdown, his first knockout, at the hands of Pacquiao in 2003.  This Sunday in Las Vegas, he couldn’t afford reprising that embarrassment in San Antonio, Texas, four years back.

So, while Pacquiao had willed to win on Sunday, Barrera had willed to lose on Sunday.

Clearly, while Pacquiao went for the knockout, Barrera went on the run to avoid a kayo loss.

Clearly, Barrera barred himself from winning by electing to defend, if not run, almost 95 percent of the way.

Barrera got what he wanted in bowing to Pacquiao on points.  But in succeeding to lose, what did Barrera achieve?

You fight to lose, where’s honor in that?

Barrera did laugh his way to the bank with a $2-million paycheck after unleashing a 36-minute charade, moro-moro, atop the ring.

From a supposed legend to the world’s laughingstock – that’s what’s become of Barrera.

Only cowards can live with that.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/)

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