To prove TKO win no fluke: Pacquiao prefers Barrera rematch

Among the three names being floated as Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent, the Filipino boxing icon said he prefers to take on Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera over undefeated Venezuelan slugger Edwin Valero and WBO (World Boxing Organization) featherweight champion Joan Guzman of the Dominican Republic.

"Gusto ko si Barrera ang makalaban kasi hindi niya maamin na tinalo ko siya. Lagi n’yang sinasabi na natiyambahan ko lang daw siya (I want Barrera as my next opponent because he never admitted that I beat him. He always says that my victory over him was just a fluke)," said Pacquiao in a TV interview upon his arrival yesterday from the United States.

Pacquiao arrived at around 5:45 a.m. yesterday and thousands of fans poured onto the streets to welcome the country’s sporting hero. He was mobbed from the airport to the Manila Hotel, where his family is billeted, at the Quiapo church, where he said a thanksgiving Mass, and at the Manila City Hall, where he held a mini press conference.

"I am not tired, I’m happy because of the warm welcome," said Pacquiao, who hardly showed weariness despite a long flight from the US and the five-hour parade around the city.

He also made a courtesy call on President Arroyo, who congratulated Pacquiao for his victory and thanked him for the honor he had given the country.

The President said she was impressed that Pacquiao managed to knock out Morales after three rounds despite running a fever before fightime.

"Maybe if you did not have a fever, you would have knocked him out in the first round," Mrs. Arroyo told Pacquiao.

Pacquiao bucked the odds and demolished the heavily favored Barrera at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in Nov. 2003, scoring a sensational 11-round technical knockout victory that heralded the Gen. Santos native’s rise to boxing fame.

Since then, Barrera has been dying to do a rematch with Pacquiao.

But both fighters never crossed paths although they both beat future Hall-of-Famer Erik Morales in their respective trilogies with Barrera taking the WBC (World Boxing Council) super featherweight crown and Pacquiao the WBC international super featherweight title.

Actually, the WBC recently mandated Barrera, the reigning 130-pound champion, to face the winner of the Pacquiao-Morales fight last week in a super fight set on March 11, 2007.

But the recent development involving Pacquiao and promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Oscar dela Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions could spoil the much-awaited rematch between Barrera and Pacquiao.

Pacquiao signed a seven-fight contract with Golden Boy and received $500,000 last September. But in a press conference after he demolished Morales in the Grand Finale, Pacquiao renounced it and returned the check before announcing he has just signed up a four-year contract with Arum.

However, Arum has assured that Pacquaio won’t be caught in the crossfire.

A rematch between Pacquiao and Barrera will also open the doors to a possible third match in case the heads-on showdown is squared. If this happens, it could even be bigger than Pacquiao-Morales because in this showdown the world title will be at stake.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao belittled Valero’s unblemished record of 20-0-0, saying his victories came over boxers who the Pacman said in jest had the caliber of tricycle drivers.

He also shrugged off the challenge of Guzman, who packs a 26-0-0 record and who even wrote Pacquiao a letter, daring the power-punching Filipino to fight him in a duel of the current champions in the 130-lb division. — Dante Navarro