Barrera: Catch Pacquiao if you can

MANILA, Philippines - It sounds like Marco Antonio Barrera is torn between Antonio Margarito, his fellow Mexican, and Manny Pacquiao, the guy who beat him twice.

In a chat with The Examiner, the former three-time world champion and one of the great Mexican fighters in history said while he thinks Margarito can make things happen, it’s easier said than done.

Especially if and when it’s Pacquiao on the other side.

“Antonio has a peculiar style which will enable him to put on a great show. If he can catch Pacquiao with one or two shots, it will be a different story, but it will be difficult for him to catch Pacquiao,” said Barrera.

Margarito, still out to clear his name after his issue with the loaded hand wraps last year, will face Pacquiao on Nov. 13, before an expected crowd of some 70,000 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Margarito, much taller at 5’11 and longer with his wingspan of 73 inches, will be the underdog in the match which Pacquiao should win as he seeks an eighth world title in eight different weight categories.

Barrera said it’s a good thing the fight is happening in Texas after Margarito was denied a license to fight in California. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Barrera thinks, made it all happen.

“Of course he had influence, because he knows the majority of people who go to the Stadium are Hispanic. It is a fight many people wanted to see, here in Mexico, and in the United States,” he said.

Barrera fought Pacquiao twice, and lost twice. In 2003, he was knocked out in the 11th round, and in their rematch, which came four years later, he stayed a mile away from Pacquiao who won a unanimous decision.

Barrera said he’s happy for Margarito, regardless of the outcome.

“Good for Tony [Margarito], he hit the lottery to fight against Manny Pacquiao,” said Barrera of the 32-year-old ex-welterweight champion who should be getting more than he’d ever had for facing the Filipino superstar.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, should add around $15 million to his fat bank account after this fight.

“This type of news makes us all happy,” said Barrera, who welcomed Texas’ decision to give Margarito the license to fight.

Pacquiao and Margarito will come face to face thrice in the next few days when they hold a press tour that kicks off at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Aug. 31, then in New York on Sept. 1 and at the Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 3.

Pacquiao, now a congressman, will be in a hurry to come home to attend to his other duties, and begin training under Freddie Roach on Sept. 20, somewhere in Metro Manila, somewhere close to his new home, the House of Representatives.