Pacquiao in LA, starts buildup for Barrera

Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles, USA Thursday morning and quickly buckled down to work at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles in preparation for his much-awaited fight against Marco Antonio Barrera on Nov. 15 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Although the scheduled 12-round fight is a non-title bout, the 24-year-old reigning IBF (International Boxing Federation) super-bantamweight champion is taking no chances and wants to be in his most devastating form when he slugs it out with the former four-time world champion.

Pacquiao, who packs a 37-2-1 (win-loss-draw) mark with 29 KOs, is currently working out under noted trainer Freddie Roach.

The fight venue is at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the fifth major US city Pacquiao will strut his wares after stints in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Memphis and Los Angeles, where he demolished Mexican Emmanuel Lucero via a third round knockout to keep the IBF belt in the 122-lb division for the fourth time last July.

But Pacquiao will be fighting Barrera in the 126-lb category, the first time that he would ever do so, although the Davao-based fighter is confident of pulling off the victory what with his tremendous punching power that lined him among the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

The 29-year-old Barrera, on the other hand, has been fighting in the featherweight class since 2001.

Pacquiao is guaranteed a paycheck of $350,000, the biggest of his career, and has vowed to give his best shot against Barrera, the former featherweight champion who distinguished himself as the only fighter to inflict defeats on erstwhile unbeaten champions Erik Morales and Hamed Naseem.

Chief handler Rod Nazario is expected to join Pacquiao late this month or early November along with boxing associates Moy Lainez and Gerry Garcia in time for the fight billed as the "People’s Championship."

Noted for his sturdy chin, Barrera boasts of a 57-3 win-loss record with 40 knockouts. He has won his last eight fights and lost only to Junior Jones twice and Morales in a career that started in 1989. Barrera is coming off a fourth round stoppage of Kevin Kelly last April.