Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera

Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born June 17, 1974 in Mexico City) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a seven time world champion in three different weight classes; he is a former world champion at WBO Super Bantamweight (122 lb), IBO / WBC Featherweight (126 lb), WBC Super Featherweight (130 lb) and IBF Junior Lightweight (130 lb) divisions. He ranks # 43 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Barrera had a record of 104-4 and was a five-time Mexican national champion. His Winning streak was 56-0 before losing his first amateur contest.

Championship title

Barrera was 15 years old when he defeated David Felix by a knockout in round two on November 22, 1989. The victory marked the beginning of a 43 fight win streak.

In 1990, Barrera had seven fights, including his first rise in quality opposition, when he defeated veteran Iván Salazar, by a decision in eight rounds. In 1991, he had seven more fights, defeating boxers Abel Hinojosa, Javier Díaz and others.

Barrera began 1992 by winning his first professional title, defeating Justino Suárez by a decision in twelve rounds to win the Mexican national Super Flyweight championship. He retained the title three times before the end of the year which helped improved his ranking in the Super Flyweight division. He defeated Abner Barajas by a decision in ten rounds, and Angel Rosario by a knockout in six rounds.

In 1993, Barrera had six bouts, winning each. He defeated Salazar in a rematch and retained his title against Noe Santillana and among others.

By 1994, Barrera was attending University to become a lawyer and also continued his boxing career. On April 13, he defeated future champion Carlos Salazar by a ten round decision in Argentina. He also defeated former world champion Eddie Cook before the end of the year.

First fight with Barrera

Pacquiao with his trainer Freddie Roach at Pacquiao's Christmas and birthday bash, Los Angeles, California.

On November 15, 2003, Pacquiao faced Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, in a fight that many consider to have defined his career. Pacquiao, moving up in weight and in his first fight ever in the featherweight division, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round.

Although this bout was not recognized as a title fight by any sanctioning bodies, after his victory Pacquiao was crowned Ring Magazine featherweight champion (as well as the lineal featherweight champion), and he held that title until relinquishing it in 2005.

Rematch with Barrera

On June 29, 2007, it was announced that Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera would occur despite being the #1 contender for the super featherweight title of Juan Manuel Márquez.

Since Bob Arum was out on a vacation, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive, Richard Schaefer, politely declined to discuss Pacquiao’s purse for the October 6, 2007, rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera (at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas). However, Pacquiao was likely to get a purse of 5 million dollars, plus possibly a share of the pay-per-view rights. Pacquiao defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous decision. In the eleventh round, Pacquiao's punch caused a deep cut under Barrera's right eye. Barrera retaliated with an illegal punch on the break that dazed Pacquiao but also caused the referee to deduct a point from Barrera. Two judges scored the bout 118–109, whereas the third scored it 115–112.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Antonio_Barrera