By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
LAS VEGAS -- On February 12, less than a month after his 37th birthday, five-time titlist Marco Antonio Barrera of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, scored a knockdown in each round on the way to a second-round stoppage of 43-year-old journeyman Jorge Arias of Providence, R.I.
The win represented the 44th knockout, and the 67th victory overall against seven losses for Barrera, who ended a nine-fight winning streak by Arias (15-2, nine KOs) that had included seven consecutive knockout wins for a man who was stopped for the first time in his career.
Barrera had ended a 15-month layoff with June's lightweight, unanimous decision over Brazil's Adailton De Jesus, his first opponent since losing a five-round, technical decision to current WBA junior welterweight (140 pounds) titlist Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) of England in March of 2009.
Barrera trailed Khan on all three cards when their fight was stopped -- this, after Barrera suffered a severe cut on the left side of his head following a clash of heads.
The Khan match would have been declared a no-contest if it had been stopped in the fourth round, automatically forcing a rematch. Barrera had been similarly cut following a clash of heads in his previous fight, a January, 2009, third-round disqualification victory over Freudis Rojas.
On Friday, Barrera was in attendance at the weigh-in at the Mandalay Bay Hotel for Saturday night's HBO televised bantamweight (118 pounds) championship clash featuring WBO and WBC titlist Fernando Montiel (44-2-2, 34 KOs), of Mexico, and, WBA interim super flyweight (115 pounds) king Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KOs), who are being promoted by Top Rank Promotions.
The 31-year-old Montiel and Barrera are among five Mexican fighters to have won world titles over the course of three divisions -- the others being WBA and WBO lightweight (135 pounds) titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs), Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. (107-6-2, 86 KOs) and Erik Morales (51-6, 35 KOs).
Montiel is riding an 11-0-1 unbeaten streak that includes nine knockouts, four straight stoppages and a mark of 5-0-1, with five knockouts in his past six fights. The 28-year-old Donaire, of the Philippines, enters his second-ever and second straight bantamweight match up in pursuit of his 25th straight victory and his 10th stoppage in his past 12 fights.
In April, Montiel trailed on the cards when he scored a sensational fourth-round knockout over Hozumi Hasegawa (29-3, 12 KOs), a man who was in search of his sixth straight stoppage during a 25-fight winning streak that had included 11 knockouts.
Barrera is most known for winning two fights in his trilogy with Morales, one whose legendary status, for Mexicans, rivals the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. In addition, Barrera remains the only man to have defeated former WBO and IBF featherweight (126 pounds) King Prince Naseem Hamed of England, who was 35-0, with 31 knockouts before losing a unanimous decision to Barrera in April of 2001.
Always a warrior, Barrera has twice defeated Rocky Juarez, fallen by unanimous decision to Marquez, and lost, respectively, by 11th-round knockout and decision to eight-division king and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Manny Pacquiao (53-2-1, 38 KOs).
Barrera spoke to FanHouse concerning his legacy as well as his future in this Q&A.
Translated by Jaime Motta, ESPN International and ESPN Deportes
FanHouse: In what order would you rank the five Mexican champions who have won titles over three divisions?
Marco Antonio Barrera: Because of the way that they won them, Julio Cesar Chavez would be No. 1. Erik Morales would be No. 2, I would be No. 3, Juan Manuel Marquez would be four, and Fernando Montiel, fifth.
What do all of those five guys have in common in terms of their internal fortitude?
We're all very different. All five of us. In this case, Fernando Montiel, what he's got is hunger, experience and he's got to show to this time around that he is made for this type of fight.
He will have to prove that he is of the upper level with this fight.
Were you concerned prior to the Naseem Hamed fight that your conversion from a puncher to being more of a boxer would not be received well by your Mexican fans?
I realized in 2001 that I needed to change my style. After the loss to Erik Morales [in February of 2000,] I knew that if I wanted to stay in boxing, that I had to change my style.
I couldn't continue to keep getting hit as much as I did in that fight, and I had to change a little more to be able to last a little longer.
I thought about my fans a lot when I was training for the Naseem Hamed fight. I thought that people might be against me because I was going to try and box more.
But as things turned out, people really appreciated that I was able to give Naseem Hamed a boxing lesson. I did it by boxing, and from then on, I realized that, 'You know what? The fans like that I could box as well.'
So, for the rest of my career, I have basically been able to do that. And the fans stuck with me because, not only could I fight, but I could box as well.
What are your thoughts on the nickname of Manny Pacquiao, 'The Mexecutioner,' for his domination of Mexican fighters such as yourself, Eric Morales, and, Juan Manuel Marquez?
It's obvious that, since Montiel is Mexican and Donaire is from the Philippines, that Mexicans are going to go with Montiel even more for that reason because of the rivalry that has developed between those countries.
Montiel is not only Mexican, but he is one of the best Mexican fighters that Mexico has out there right now. But the rivalry is mainly due to Manny Pacquiao.
As far as Pacquiao, obviously he's he has earned the right to be called the Mexicutioner or whatever he wants to be called. Because not only has he beaten all Mexicans, but he's beaten guys from wherever.
He's beaten Americans and he has done it at lightweight [135 pounds,] welterweight [147 pounds,] and, at super welterweight [154 pounds,] so, he's got the name that he deserves.
When can we expect to see you in the ring once again?
First of all, I'm retiring in December. Regardless of what happens, I'm going to call it quits in December because I've spoken to my family about it.
For health reasons, I don't want to stick around in the sport and allow anything to happen to me. So, as I've said, I have spoken to my family, and we have decided that this is it, no matter what happens.
I will fight again in April, and then, after that, I will look to fight the winner between [WBA lightweight champion] Miguel Acosta and Brandon Rios.
So that's fight, hopefully, will come off in September. I don't have an opponent yet for April, but I'm still waiting for my promoter, Fernando Beltran, of Zanfer Promotions and Bob Arum to pick an opponent.
What are your thoughts on the notion that Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales was a trilogy similar in stature to Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier for Mexicans, and, do you still have any animosity toward Erik Morales?
I am very grateful and honored that people all over believe that the trilogy with Morales is considered on par with Ali-Frazier and other great trilogies.
I feel that that was a great part of my career, and as far as Morales, I am very grateful to Morales for helping us to be able to produce that kind of an exciting trilogy.
I only wish that Morales would recognize, as I do, that they were great fights and that we were great rivals. But it does not seem that Morales, up to this point, is willing to extend a hand out to me and to say the same thing.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Showing posts with label Marco Antonio Barrera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marco Antonio Barrera. Show all posts
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Bob Arum Talks Marco Antonio Barrera, Mayweather-Pacquiao -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
The 36-year-old, five-time former world champion rose to 66-7, with 43 knockouts when he ended a 15-month ring absence by vanquishing lightweight (135 pounds) rival Adailton De Jesus (26-5, 21 KOs) of Brazil by unanimous decision.
In this, the second of a two-part Q&A series, the 78-year-old Arum discusses the future of Barrera and his effort to guide the future Hall of Famer to a fourth crown in as many different weight classes. If successful, Barrera would be the first Mexican to do so.
FanHouse: Can you discuss briefly the performance of Marco Antonio Barrera?
Bob Arum: It was a great performance. It was a mixture of everything. It shows that he's back on track.
For a guy who is accustomed to being cut in his past two fights, didn't he escape with no marks on his face and relatively unscathed?
No marks on his face, right. One of the reasons I attribute that to is that he didn't come rushing back from the Amir Khan fight. He took off some time and allowed the cuts to heal.
What's next for Marco Antonio Barrera?
We'll be putting our heads together and seeing if his next fight will be against WBC champion Humberto Soto for the Lightweight championship of the world. Or whether he needs yet one more 135-pound fight.
We'll have to see. But my inclination is that he'll probably move into a fight with Humberto Soto. For the Mexicans, that would be a huge, huge fight to say the least.
As opposed to a fight with WBA champion Miguel Acosta?
Yes, the Humberto Soto fight would be as opposed to Acosta. Acosta's a possibility, but Soto is a bigger fight for the Mexican fans.
Can you talk about how the union between you and Marco Antonio Barrera came to fruition considering his past with rival promotional company, Gold Boy Promotions?
Well, yeah. Juan Carlos, a guy who works with and is the cousin of Fernando Beltran, he's a bright, young guy. And he is friendly with all of the fighters.
Marco Antonio was apparently in conversation with Juan Carlos hinting that he would like to have Top Rank and Fernando's company promote his remaining fights. The fact that we had been on the other side for so many years was sort of irrelevant.
How so?
Well, it's a business. And there was never anything personal. He was fighting fighters that I was promoting is all. What's wrong with that? Everybody made money. He was with Golden Boy. And Golden Boy is not very imaginative.
Their idea of promoting is to take money from HBO and to put on a fight. HBO had no need for or any use for Barrera. So, Barrera was somebody who was expendable for Golden Boy.
Don King was with him for a while, but Don King had no use for him. Don King tried to bilk him for one fight against Amir Khan. So we were the obvious choice for him.
Because, we'll find a way doing our own thing to get him some big fights. And the fight between Barrera and Soto in Mexico City will do 30-to-40,000 people.
What is it that makes you and Freddie Roach go so successfully, with his Parkinson's syndrome and your ageless passion?
It's the fact that we love all that we do. We both want to create the best that we can do and to do the best that we can and to get the best out of life. I try to be creative in my own field, and Freddie is creative as a trainer, training all of these guys into super stars.
What can you say about the negotiations between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao?
I think that one way or another, we're approaching the time of resolution. One way or another. I'm still very optimistic, and, you know, Manny and I want this fight to happen.
But as I've said before, it takes two to tango. And, though this is not going to go out to much longer, this is going to be resolved in the near term. Whether it's a week or two weeks, but it will be resolved one way or the other.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Promoter Bob Arum considers last Saturday night's Latin Fury 15 pay per view event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex., a success partly because of the comeback of Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera.
The 36-year-old, five-time former world champion rose to 66-7, with 43 knockouts when he ended a 15-month ring absence by vanquishing lightweight (135 pounds) rival Adailton De Jesus (26-5, 21 KOs) of Brazil by unanimous decision.
In this, the second of a two-part Q&A series, the 78-year-old Arum discusses the future of Barrera and his effort to guide the future Hall of Famer to a fourth crown in as many different weight classes. If successful, Barrera would be the first Mexican to do so.Also in this Q&A, Arum will discuss his relationship with three-time Trainer of the Year, Freddie Roach and will address the potential for a bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao coming to fruition.
FanHouse: Can you discuss briefly the performance of Marco Antonio Barrera?
Bob Arum: It was a great performance. It was a mixture of everything. It shows that he's back on track.
For a guy who is accustomed to being cut in his past two fights, didn't he escape with no marks on his face and relatively unscathed?
No marks on his face, right. One of the reasons I attribute that to is that he didn't come rushing back from the Amir Khan fight. He took off some time and allowed the cuts to heal.
What's next for Marco Antonio Barrera?
We'll be putting our heads together and seeing if his next fight will be against WBC champion Humberto Soto for the Lightweight championship of the world. Or whether he needs yet one more 135-pound fight.
We'll have to see. But my inclination is that he'll probably move into a fight with Humberto Soto. For the Mexicans, that would be a huge, huge fight to say the least.
As opposed to a fight with WBA champion Miguel Acosta?
Yes, the Humberto Soto fight would be as opposed to Acosta. Acosta's a possibility, but Soto is a bigger fight for the Mexican fans.
Can you talk about how the union between you and Marco Antonio Barrera came to fruition considering his past with rival promotional company, Gold Boy Promotions?
Well, yeah. Juan Carlos, a guy who works with and is the cousin of Fernando Beltran, he's a bright, young guy. And he is friendly with all of the fighters.
Marco Antonio was apparently in conversation with Juan Carlos hinting that he would like to have Top Rank and Fernando's company promote his remaining fights. The fact that we had been on the other side for so many years was sort of irrelevant.
How so?
Well, it's a business. And there was never anything personal. He was fighting fighters that I was promoting is all. What's wrong with that? Everybody made money. He was with Golden Boy. And Golden Boy is not very imaginative.
Their idea of promoting is to take money from HBO and to put on a fight. HBO had no need for or any use for Barrera. So, Barrera was somebody who was expendable for Golden Boy.
Don King was with him for a while, but Don King had no use for him. Don King tried to bilk him for one fight against Amir Khan. So we were the obvious choice for him.
Because, we'll find a way doing our own thing to get him some big fights. And the fight between Barrera and Soto in Mexico City will do 30-to-40,000 people.
What is it that makes you and Freddie Roach go so successfully, with his Parkinson's syndrome and your ageless passion?
It's the fact that we love all that we do. We both want to create the best that we can do and to do the best that we can and to get the best out of life. I try to be creative in my own field, and Freddie is creative as a trainer, training all of these guys into super stars.
What can you say about the negotiations between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao?
I think that one way or another, we're approaching the time of resolution. One way or another. I'm still very optimistic, and, you know, Manny and I want this fight to happen.
But as I've said before, it takes two to tango. And, though this is not going to go out to much longer, this is going to be resolved in the near term. Whether it's a week or two weeks, but it will be resolved one way or the other.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Q&A: Marco Antonio Barrera -- FightNews
By Christian Schmidt, FightNews.com
Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs) was once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. However, in November of 2003 something happened that no fight fan could have seen coming. A one-sided beating by and up-and-coming and for the most part unknown Manny Pacqiauo. Barerra may have got the worst of it that night, but he bounced backed nicely by beating top quality opposition such as Paulie Ayala, Erik Morales, and Rocky Juarez (twice). On June 26th Barrera is scheduled to continue his career when he takes on Adailton De Jesus (26-4, 21 KOs) of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. This fight will take place in the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. The exact same building he suffered the most shocking loss of his career against Pacquiao. The card is headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy and will be shown on a Top Rank PPV. Fightnews got a chance to sit down with the future hall of famer at a recent press conference in the Alamodome. Barrera spoke on how much longer he wants to fight, if another fight between he and Morales is possible, and in what fight he feels as though he got robbed.
You haven’t fought in awhile, how do you feel?
I feel good, going to have a good fight. I am on weight.
What do you know about your opponent?
He has a good punch. He has a lot of KOs. Obviously very strong.
You have had over seventy fights in your career. How is your body holding up?
I feel good. I am training. the more wins, the more experience.
In your opinion, is it difficult to return to fight here in the Alamodome due to the last experience you had with the upset loss you had against Manny Pacqiauo?
No on the contrary. I lost to another one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. There is no shame in that.
Is there anyone out there you would like to fight in particular? Any rematches?
Don’t have anyone in mind, but I could fight Juan Manuel Marquez again. They (the judges) gave him a gift in our first fight.
When do you think this fight could happen?
I don’t know. I will have to talk with my team.
What are your thoughts in the recent fourth bout between Isreal Vasquez and Rafael Marquez?
There was a lot of blood. Their clash was an example of how Mexican fighters fight.
Do you think there will be a number five?
Maybe.
Do you ever think there will be a fourth fight with your arch rival Erik Morales?
Who knows? Erik looked good in his comeback fight. Another fight between us is very possible.
How much longer do you plan to fight?
Not a lot. Maybe four or five more fights.
Can I have a prediction for June 26th?
We are going to win by decision or KO.
In closing, do you have a message for your fans?
Thank you for the continued support. I want to invite everyone June 26th. We are gonna have an excellent show.
Source: fightnews.com
Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs) was once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. However, in November of 2003 something happened that no fight fan could have seen coming. A one-sided beating by and up-and-coming and for the most part unknown Manny Pacqiauo. Barerra may have got the worst of it that night, but he bounced backed nicely by beating top quality opposition such as Paulie Ayala, Erik Morales, and Rocky Juarez (twice). On June 26th Barrera is scheduled to continue his career when he takes on Adailton De Jesus (26-4, 21 KOs) of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. This fight will take place in the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. The exact same building he suffered the most shocking loss of his career against Pacquiao. The card is headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy and will be shown on a Top Rank PPV. Fightnews got a chance to sit down with the future hall of famer at a recent press conference in the Alamodome. Barrera spoke on how much longer he wants to fight, if another fight between he and Morales is possible, and in what fight he feels as though he got robbed.
You haven’t fought in awhile, how do you feel?
I feel good, going to have a good fight. I am on weight.
What do you know about your opponent?
He has a good punch. He has a lot of KOs. Obviously very strong.
You have had over seventy fights in your career. How is your body holding up?
I feel good. I am training. the more wins, the more experience.
In your opinion, is it difficult to return to fight here in the Alamodome due to the last experience you had with the upset loss you had against Manny Pacqiauo?
No on the contrary. I lost to another one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. There is no shame in that.
Is there anyone out there you would like to fight in particular? Any rematches?
Don’t have anyone in mind, but I could fight Juan Manuel Marquez again. They (the judges) gave him a gift in our first fight.
When do you think this fight could happen?
I don’t know. I will have to talk with my team.
What are your thoughts in the recent fourth bout between Isreal Vasquez and Rafael Marquez?
There was a lot of blood. Their clash was an example of how Mexican fighters fight.
Do you think there will be a number five?
Maybe.
Do you ever think there will be a fourth fight with your arch rival Erik Morales?
Who knows? Erik looked good in his comeback fight. Another fight between us is very possible.
How much longer do you plan to fight?
Not a lot. Maybe four or five more fights.
Can I have a prediction for June 26th?
We are going to win by decision or KO.
In closing, do you have a message for your fans?
Thank you for the continued support. I want to invite everyone June 26th. We are gonna have an excellent show.
Source: fightnews.com
Encountering Barrera: Deregulation, bad experiences, and Edwin Valero -- 15Rounds
By Bart Barry, 15Rounds.com
It’s easy to find a professional athlete who will talk to you about his strengths. It’s only slightly harder to find one who will tell you about his peers’ weaknesses. A professional athlete who will speak to you in good faith about his own weaknesses, though, is a rare thing.
Those were my thoughts Thursday afternoon as I walked up the Alamodome ramp to Parking Lot A. They were thoughts that came courtesy of an interview with Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera. Still under the spell of Barrera’s courteousness, friendliness and apparent openness, I was about an hour from noticing something I’d missed with Barrera.
He hadn’t told me half as much as I’d imagined.
Barrera was at Alamodome to help Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. promote Top Rank’s “Latin Fury 15,” which happens June 26 in San Antonio. Until last week, “La Furia de México” had a different Mexican in the co-main event. Jorge Arce was scheduled to fight Puerto Rican Eric Morel but sustained a fight-canceling gash in sparring. That meant Barrera’s match with Brazilian lightweight Adailton De Jesus acquired a new importance and mandated his presence at a rescheduled press conference, Thursday.
Barrera, dressed in a striped charcoal suit with a raspberry-sherbet tie, arrived late and strode in the arena with his wife. He stood on stage beside Chavez and posed for pictures, looking darker and duller than usual. He spoke in the hastily acquired English he’s been using since Golden Boy Promotions decided he had crossover potential five years ago, and he told us his goal was to win a fourth world title. Then he switched to Spanish and became Barrera once more.
His upcoming match with De Jesus will add nothing to his legacy, a legacy that includes a historic trilogy with fellow Mexican Erik Morales, a legacy that will win him a first-ballot vote to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He understands his role in this promotion; he lends his name, a famous one in Mexico, to the name of Chavez’s dad, a more-famous one in Mexico.
Certain people radiate with intellectual horsepower. You find them occasionally on college campuses, rarely in corporations, and almost never in professional athletics. It is not the athlete’s place to supply such radiance, and to look for it is often a sign of envy: What kind of society values this guy a thousand times more than me?
Barrera is an exception. As you interview him in Spanish, a language he’s mastered, you feel him examining you right back. There’s no moral intent, per se; he doesn’t seem to care if you’re honest or will treat him honestly. Rather, he examines you as a rival, as though he wants you to challenge him with a question. He’s confident you can’t, of course, confident to a point that is often taken for arrogance. He shows no defensiveness.
Now that he’s done protecting the Golden Boy Promotions brand as a “partner,” he is accessible. Now that he’s temporarily under Top Rank’s banner, he is even more accessible.
Top Rank let’s you put hands on its people. It understands the importance of access better than its rivals. It allows public arguments within, or even against, the media, because it understands what a younger generation of promoters has yet to learn: So long as people talk about you and your event, whatever they say, they promote your event.
Thursday, I didn’t want the interference of a translator, and I sure as hell didn’t want Barrera’s English-speaking imposter. I wanted the most eloquent prizefighter I’ve met, alone, and in Spanish. I approached the table where Barrera and his wife waited for print media to finish interviewing Chavez, shook Barrera’s hand and told him that whatever he opined of my questions, he should understand they were good-faith inquiries from someone who admired him.
“Of course,” he said, and he smiled.
I asked him why, demons, he returned. What did he hope to gain by fighting on?
“Something to prove, there is not,” he said. That sentence was about as different in Spanish as it looks in English. He didn’t say there was nothing to prove, in the double-negative way of pedestrian, if still proper, Spanish. He used an alternative emphasis.
“The open television in Mexico permits more people to see me now,” Barrera said. “People who did not, before, have the opportunity to see Barrera. There are Mexicans who know solely the Barrera from that last time.”
In 2006, just before its presidential election, Mexico passed the “Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión.” This law effectively deregulated Mexican television, in the name of bringing digital cable to the people, and eventually returned boxing to free channels. Like most deregulation ploys, though, it disproportionately enriched a very small number of people. A Mexican Supreme Court ruling in 2007 delayed its implementation. And there would be further delay in converting average Mexican cable viewers’ hardware. Barrera’s contention, then, is that very few of his countrymen were able to see him for most of his career.
Since 2007, Barrera has fought thrice. A 2008 fight happened in China. An early 2009 fight was the Mexican equivalent of an Off-Off-Broadway show, in Zapopan, Jalisco. And then there was that U.K. fight 14 months ago.
“That was a bad experience,” Barrera said, of his match with English sensation Amir Khan. It saw Barrera’s upper forehead sliced opened and bleeding freely in the first round. U.K. officials, though, allowed the fight to continue until the fifth round, at which time the result went from a no-decision to a technical-decision in Khan’s favor.
“It is an experience that I am going to erase,” Barrera said. “If a fourth championship comes along the way, good. But I return to erase that fight.”
At this point in our interview, someone handed Barrera a cell-phone with a picture of the cut. It was a scripted move, and as a script is beneath Barrera, I moved away from it:
As someone who admires you for your intellect as well as your boxing, I am nervous, if not sad, about your return, I said. Tell me how I am mistaken.
“To the contrary, friend, you are not mistaken,” Barrera said. “Boxing is filled with bad experiences. Many bad experiences.”
And when you bade farewell to “this beautiful sport” at Mandalay Bay in October of 2007?
“That was all about my promoter,” Barrera said, and he laughed. “I was not happy with my promoter, and I did that to escape them.”
The day after Barrera easily survived 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao, never imperiling himself or Pacquiao, en route to a unanimous-decision loss, I wrote of his relationship with Golden Boy Promotions: “Barrera had become an overqualified employee in De la Hoya’s company, a guy who was too smart for the corporation, quietly resenting each new workday and the boss who caused it.”
“Exactly,” Barrera said, when I paraphrased this for him.
A better reporter would have plumbed the depths of Barrera’s resentment for his former promoter, a resentment he didn’t seem at all interested in hiding. Instead, I asked Barrera about a curious relationship he’d developed with a man whose life ended terribly last month.
On that night of your goodbye to boxing, I reminded him, you brought Venezuelan Edwin Valero on stage with you. You complimented him at length and called him a friend more than a sparring partner.
“We invited him to the city,” Barrera remembered of that training camp. “It was a friendship. A very good friendship. That night, I said he would beat Pacquiao. That was true. Unfortunately, they were never able to have that fight.”
And when he heard that Valero had murdered his wife, on April 19, before apparently committing suicide in a Venezuelan jail cell?
“I regretted it, I felt very badly,” Barrera said. “We waited to hear confirmation of the news. I regret it even now. I flee that date. But none of it surprised me. (Valero) had many psychological problems.”
I thanked Barrera and his wife, both, for being the people they have been, and for handling their celebrity with such grace.
On my way out, I stopped and spoke to Carlos Hernandez – who now resides in San Antonio – because on my way in, Jesse James Leija had told me Hernandez and Edwin Valero had trained together and been friends in Los Angeles. Few prizefighters are charismatic or likable as Hernandez. When I asked him if he were surprised by the news of Valero’s end last month, Hernandez shook his head.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Hernandez said. “But we didn’t talk about family much in the gym. We talked about other things.”
Such as?
“Venezuelan politics,” Hernandez said, and we both smiled at the oddity of such a conversation in the gym. “He was really into it.”
“Too into it,” Hernandez’s wife added.
Bart Barry can be reached at bbarry@15rounds.com
Source: 15rounds.com
It’s easy to find a professional athlete who will talk to you about his strengths. It’s only slightly harder to find one who will tell you about his peers’ weaknesses. A professional athlete who will speak to you in good faith about his own weaknesses, though, is a rare thing.
Those were my thoughts Thursday afternoon as I walked up the Alamodome ramp to Parking Lot A. They were thoughts that came courtesy of an interview with Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera. Still under the spell of Barrera’s courteousness, friendliness and apparent openness, I was about an hour from noticing something I’d missed with Barrera.
He hadn’t told me half as much as I’d imagined.
Barrera was at Alamodome to help Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. promote Top Rank’s “Latin Fury 15,” which happens June 26 in San Antonio. Until last week, “La Furia de México” had a different Mexican in the co-main event. Jorge Arce was scheduled to fight Puerto Rican Eric Morel but sustained a fight-canceling gash in sparring. That meant Barrera’s match with Brazilian lightweight Adailton De Jesus acquired a new importance and mandated his presence at a rescheduled press conference, Thursday.
Barrera, dressed in a striped charcoal suit with a raspberry-sherbet tie, arrived late and strode in the arena with his wife. He stood on stage beside Chavez and posed for pictures, looking darker and duller than usual. He spoke in the hastily acquired English he’s been using since Golden Boy Promotions decided he had crossover potential five years ago, and he told us his goal was to win a fourth world title. Then he switched to Spanish and became Barrera once more.
His upcoming match with De Jesus will add nothing to his legacy, a legacy that includes a historic trilogy with fellow Mexican Erik Morales, a legacy that will win him a first-ballot vote to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He understands his role in this promotion; he lends his name, a famous one in Mexico, to the name of Chavez’s dad, a more-famous one in Mexico.
Certain people radiate with intellectual horsepower. You find them occasionally on college campuses, rarely in corporations, and almost never in professional athletics. It is not the athlete’s place to supply such radiance, and to look for it is often a sign of envy: What kind of society values this guy a thousand times more than me?
Barrera is an exception. As you interview him in Spanish, a language he’s mastered, you feel him examining you right back. There’s no moral intent, per se; he doesn’t seem to care if you’re honest or will treat him honestly. Rather, he examines you as a rival, as though he wants you to challenge him with a question. He’s confident you can’t, of course, confident to a point that is often taken for arrogance. He shows no defensiveness.
Now that he’s done protecting the Golden Boy Promotions brand as a “partner,” he is accessible. Now that he’s temporarily under Top Rank’s banner, he is even more accessible.
Top Rank let’s you put hands on its people. It understands the importance of access better than its rivals. It allows public arguments within, or even against, the media, because it understands what a younger generation of promoters has yet to learn: So long as people talk about you and your event, whatever they say, they promote your event.
Thursday, I didn’t want the interference of a translator, and I sure as hell didn’t want Barrera’s English-speaking imposter. I wanted the most eloquent prizefighter I’ve met, alone, and in Spanish. I approached the table where Barrera and his wife waited for print media to finish interviewing Chavez, shook Barrera’s hand and told him that whatever he opined of my questions, he should understand they were good-faith inquiries from someone who admired him.
“Of course,” he said, and he smiled.
I asked him why, demons, he returned. What did he hope to gain by fighting on?
“Something to prove, there is not,” he said. That sentence was about as different in Spanish as it looks in English. He didn’t say there was nothing to prove, in the double-negative way of pedestrian, if still proper, Spanish. He used an alternative emphasis.
“The open television in Mexico permits more people to see me now,” Barrera said. “People who did not, before, have the opportunity to see Barrera. There are Mexicans who know solely the Barrera from that last time.”
In 2006, just before its presidential election, Mexico passed the “Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión.” This law effectively deregulated Mexican television, in the name of bringing digital cable to the people, and eventually returned boxing to free channels. Like most deregulation ploys, though, it disproportionately enriched a very small number of people. A Mexican Supreme Court ruling in 2007 delayed its implementation. And there would be further delay in converting average Mexican cable viewers’ hardware. Barrera’s contention, then, is that very few of his countrymen were able to see him for most of his career.
Since 2007, Barrera has fought thrice. A 2008 fight happened in China. An early 2009 fight was the Mexican equivalent of an Off-Off-Broadway show, in Zapopan, Jalisco. And then there was that U.K. fight 14 months ago.
“That was a bad experience,” Barrera said, of his match with English sensation Amir Khan. It saw Barrera’s upper forehead sliced opened and bleeding freely in the first round. U.K. officials, though, allowed the fight to continue until the fifth round, at which time the result went from a no-decision to a technical-decision in Khan’s favor.
“It is an experience that I am going to erase,” Barrera said. “If a fourth championship comes along the way, good. But I return to erase that fight.”
At this point in our interview, someone handed Barrera a cell-phone with a picture of the cut. It was a scripted move, and as a script is beneath Barrera, I moved away from it:
As someone who admires you for your intellect as well as your boxing, I am nervous, if not sad, about your return, I said. Tell me how I am mistaken.
“To the contrary, friend, you are not mistaken,” Barrera said. “Boxing is filled with bad experiences. Many bad experiences.”
And when you bade farewell to “this beautiful sport” at Mandalay Bay in October of 2007?
“That was all about my promoter,” Barrera said, and he laughed. “I was not happy with my promoter, and I did that to escape them.”
The day after Barrera easily survived 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao, never imperiling himself or Pacquiao, en route to a unanimous-decision loss, I wrote of his relationship with Golden Boy Promotions: “Barrera had become an overqualified employee in De la Hoya’s company, a guy who was too smart for the corporation, quietly resenting each new workday and the boss who caused it.”
“Exactly,” Barrera said, when I paraphrased this for him.
A better reporter would have plumbed the depths of Barrera’s resentment for his former promoter, a resentment he didn’t seem at all interested in hiding. Instead, I asked Barrera about a curious relationship he’d developed with a man whose life ended terribly last month.
On that night of your goodbye to boxing, I reminded him, you brought Venezuelan Edwin Valero on stage with you. You complimented him at length and called him a friend more than a sparring partner.
“We invited him to the city,” Barrera remembered of that training camp. “It was a friendship. A very good friendship. That night, I said he would beat Pacquiao. That was true. Unfortunately, they were never able to have that fight.”
And when he heard that Valero had murdered his wife, on April 19, before apparently committing suicide in a Venezuelan jail cell?
“I regretted it, I felt very badly,” Barrera said. “We waited to hear confirmation of the news. I regret it even now. I flee that date. But none of it surprised me. (Valero) had many psychological problems.”
I thanked Barrera and his wife, both, for being the people they have been, and for handling their celebrity with such grace.
On my way out, I stopped and spoke to Carlos Hernandez – who now resides in San Antonio – because on my way in, Jesse James Leija had told me Hernandez and Edwin Valero had trained together and been friends in Los Angeles. Few prizefighters are charismatic or likable as Hernandez. When I asked him if he were surprised by the news of Valero’s end last month, Hernandez shook his head.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Hernandez said. “But we didn’t talk about family much in the gym. We talked about other things.”
Such as?
“Venezuelan politics,” Hernandez said, and we both smiled at the oddity of such a conversation in the gym. “He was really into it.”
“Too into it,” Hernandez’s wife added.
Bart Barry can be reached at bbarry@15rounds.com
Source: 15rounds.com
Monday, 31 May 2010
Barrera banking on one final title push -- San Antonio Express
By John Whisler, San Antonio Express
“That is why I'm still fighting,” the former six-time world champion said Wednesday. “I want to make history.”
To do it, he'll have to get past his next opponent, Adailton De Jesus of Brazil. The two are scheduled to meet in a 10-round bout on the “Latin Fury 15” card June 26 at the Alamodome.
Barrera should have little trouble against an unknown foe. But another world title? It might be out of reach at this stage of his career.
A Mexico City native, Barrera turned pro at age 15 and began knocking out opponents at an astonishing rate. Hence the nickname, the “Baby-Faced Assassin.”
But as the years have piled up, so have the rounds and the ring miles against some of the sport's biggest names: Johnny Tapia, Prince Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales (three times), Manny Pacquiao (twice) and Juan Manuel Marquez.
At age 36, he's 65-7 with 43 knockouts but has lost three of his past five fights.
Looking more like a businessman than a prizefighter as he sat at a table at the Alamodome after the news conference promoting the upcoming June 26 card, Barrera dismissed the notion that he's washed up.
“This is not the first time I've been written off,” he said through a Spanish interpreter. “But I've fought the best of the best. And I live a healthy lifestyle. I'm very fit physically and mentally.”
Barrera was written off after losing to Junior Jones back-to-back in 1996 and '97, and after he lost to Pacquiao in 2003 at the Alamodome.
But he came back to win more titles and add to his legacy as one of Mexico's greatest fighters.
Top Rank, an unlikely alliance considering their bitter feuds over the years, is now promoting Barrera. Top Rank represented archrival Morales during all three of his epic battles with Barrera.
But Barrera is hoping the promoter is his ticket back to the top.
“I'm thankful for the opportunity,” Barrera said. “I want to prove to them I can win another world title.”
Goal intact: Barrera's quest to win titles in four weight divisions is still alive, now that fellow countryman Jorge Arce is off the June 26 card.
Arce was hoping to accomplish the feat in his interim WBO bantamweight title bout against Eric Morel on the card but was forced to withdraw after suffering a cut during sparring.
Card changes: While promoters have indicated that Arce-Morel won't be replaced, it apparently did create an opening. San Antonio's Emanuel Ledezma (8-1-1, 2 KOs) officially was added to the undercard this past week.
Now training under “Jesse” James Leija, Ledezma is scheduled to take on Nelson Ramos (4-0, 2 KOs) of Houston in a super middleweight bout.
Majestic night: Bellator Fighting Championships drew mixed reviews for its San Antonio debut.
The bouts were generally entertaining and provided a stark contrast to the grandeur of the Majestic Theatre.
But the crowd of about 1,000 was disappointing. Official capacity at the Majestic is 2,311.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said it's all about developing a fan base.
“You've got to be willing to come into a city, put down some roots and build the brand,” he said, adding that he hoped to bring Bellator back for another show in the future.
jwhisler@express-news.net
Source: mysanantonio.com
Marco Antonio Barrera
is no longer baby-faced, and he's hardly the boxing assassin he once was.
But Barrera has a new promoter, and he's on a mission: He wants to become the first Mexican fighter to win titles in four different weight divisions. is no longer baby-faced, and he's hardly the boxing assassin he once was. “That is why I'm still fighting,” the former six-time world champion said Wednesday. “I want to make history.”
To do it, he'll have to get past his next opponent, Adailton De Jesus of Brazil. The two are scheduled to meet in a 10-round bout on the “Latin Fury 15” card June 26 at the Alamodome.A Mexico City native, Barrera turned pro at age 15 and began knocking out opponents at an astonishing rate. Hence the nickname, the “Baby-Faced Assassin.”
But as the years have piled up, so have the rounds and the ring miles against some of the sport's biggest names: Johnny Tapia, Prince Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales (three times), Manny Pacquiao (twice) and Juan Manuel Marquez.
At age 36, he's 65-7 with 43 knockouts but has lost three of his past five fights.
Looking more like a businessman than a prizefighter as he sat at a table at the Alamodome after the news conference promoting the upcoming June 26 card, Barrera dismissed the notion that he's washed up.
“This is not the first time I've been written off,” he said through a Spanish interpreter. “But I've fought the best of the best. And I live a healthy lifestyle. I'm very fit physically and mentally.”
Barrera was written off after losing to Junior Jones back-to-back in 1996 and '97, and after he lost to Pacquiao in 2003 at the Alamodome.
But he came back to win more titles and add to his legacy as one of Mexico's greatest fighters.
Top Rank, an unlikely alliance considering their bitter feuds over the years, is now promoting Barrera. Top Rank represented archrival Morales during all three of his epic battles with Barrera.
But Barrera is hoping the promoter is his ticket back to the top.
“I'm thankful for the opportunity,” Barrera said. “I want to prove to them I can win another world title.”
Goal intact: Barrera's quest to win titles in four weight divisions is still alive, now that fellow countryman Jorge Arce is off the June 26 card.
Arce was hoping to accomplish the feat in his interim WBO bantamweight title bout against Eric Morel on the card but was forced to withdraw after suffering a cut during sparring.
Card changes: While promoters have indicated that Arce-Morel won't be replaced, it apparently did create an opening. San Antonio's Emanuel Ledezma (8-1-1, 2 KOs) officially was added to the undercard this past week.
Now training under “Jesse” James Leija, Ledezma is scheduled to take on Nelson Ramos (4-0, 2 KOs) of Houston in a super middleweight bout.
Majestic night: Bellator Fighting Championships drew mixed reviews for its San Antonio debut.
The bouts were generally entertaining and provided a stark contrast to the grandeur of the Majestic Theatre.
But the crowd of about 1,000 was disappointing. Official capacity at the Majestic is 2,311.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said it's all about developing a fan base.
“You've got to be willing to come into a city, put down some roots and build the brand,” he said, adding that he hoped to bring Bellator back for another show in the future.
jwhisler@express-news.net
Source: mysanantonio.com
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Chavez Jr. is Roach's Latest Wild Card -- SecondsOut
By Steve Kim, SecondsOut.com
Roach has a star-studded roster, from Manny Pacquiao on down and the Wild Card is the home to a multitude of world-class prizefighters. And it’s a highly competitive atmosphere, where the weak will not survive. Here, Chavez Jr. isn’t the son of boxing royalty; as of now, he’s just another relatively unproven fighter. He’s basically Vanes Martirosyan with a better boxer lineage.
"We think Chavez is enormously talented and we have to get somebody to bring out that talent and discipline. And there’s nobody better than Freddie," stated Arum, who took Chavez to the Wild Card a couple of months ago. He admits to being distressed over Chavez’s rather desultory dedication to the sport. "Sure, of course, all of us [are]."
The crime isn’t that Junior is not the equal of his father (very few ever will be at the level of the great “JC Superstar”); it’s that he’s not even reaching his own ceiling as a fighter, which has seemingly turned off more than a few Mexican fans. But perhaps, he will never have the desire of the original Julio Cesar Chavez. After all, he was a child of privilege, one that was born with a silver mouthpiece. How could he have ever had the hunger and drive of his father growing up?
As former major league pitcher Dean Chance (now, incidentally, president of fringe alphabet organization, the IBA) once famously noted, "He was born on third base, but he thinks he hit a triple." At times, that would apply to Chavez.
Arum admits, "Chavez comes from a wealthy family. Marvin Hagler, one of my great fighters, said rich guys who sleep in silk pajamas don’t like to get up in the morning and do roadwork." And judging by the softness in his body in his most recent fights, he looks like a guy who hasn’t been hitting the pavement in the early hours. Last year, the physical conditioners from Velocity- best known for working with Miguel Cotto- were summoned to Big Bear to work with Junior, only to be jettisoned from the mountain a few weeks later. The reason?
It seemed as though they were working Junior just a bit too hard for his liking.
You just wonder; is Chavez boxing because he wants to or because he’s expected to? At times, he does remind one of that trust-fund baby incapable of holding any real responsibility in the real world, yet, will always be bailed out because of who he is. In other sports, it’s not unusual to see kids who come from wealth follow in the footsteps of their fathers. But in boxing, is it even possible?
As you ask this question to Roach, he takes a long pause before saying," I would say mostly no. But the thing is, in some cases, they have the genes of a fighter. Like the Mayweathers and so forth, Floyd Jr. wasn’t brought up as hard as Roger and Floyd Sr. were. He had a little more comfortable of a life because of the success of his uncle, of course. So it’s not impossible, but it’s unusual."
But there’s a key difference here; Floyd Jr., for all his bombast, has an obvious thirst and drive for the sport, along with incredible, natural, God-given ability. Chavez isn’t a bad fighter; he has a pretty good offensive skill set and a good beard. But that’s offset by shoddy conditioning, which has limited his effectiveness in certain fights.
But what happens the first few days when he is pushed to the brink in the gym, when it’s no longer his call on when to call it quits? And can his body take the ballistic training of Roach’s strength-and-training guru, Alex Ariza, in the early mornings? This will be a bit of culture shock for Chavez.
Roach says simply, "[If] he doesn’t work hard, he’ll probably go home." The trainer says he won’t even have to send him on his way. "I’ll give him an opportunity to show me he’s willing to change and work. And I’m going to push him, push him, push him and if he doesn’t respond, he’ll go home on his own. I hear he’s that type of person. But the thing is, if he does have a work ethic, I’ll sit down and talk with him. I’ll give him a chance. But he’s going to get one chance and that’s it."
Roach’s bottom line is simple, "I don’t have time; I have a lot of good fighters that want to work, so I don’t have time to be baby-sitting anybody."
Chavez should have some inkling of what to expect as he dropped by the Wild Card to see Pacquiao perform his daily duties with Roach, before “Pac-Man” faced Joshua Clottey in March. "When he [Chavez] saw Manny work out, he said we were a little crazy. But he saw how I work my fighters and how I push them and so forth. So I’m hoping he sees that as a challenge to him."
The days of being surrounded by yes-men are over, for now. The young man is no longer the boss of his own training.
"It was my camp," Chavez admitted. "I told them what I wanted to do. It was my family and it’s not the same when it’s your family. You tell them what to do; they’re not going to tell me no."
He says later, "It’s a great opportunity for me. You see what he’s done with fighters; he makes them better than they are. I’m hoping he’ll do that for me. He’ll make me work and I can become the best that I can become."
ENABLING
As is usually the case with Chavez Jr., or any fighter handled by Fernando Beltran, the fighter was once again tardy to the press conference on Tuesday, which had Arum a bit antsy. This after the Monday afternoon presser in San Antonio was scrapped because Chavez had some immigration issues.
"We flew down; we got picked up at the airport. We were told then that he wasn’t coming and that there wouldn’t be a press conference," said a rather annoyed Craig Hamilton, who manages Duddy. "So John and I went over and visited the Alamo."
Again, Chavez gets away with it, because he’s allowed to. Meanwhile, everyone else who was scheduled to be there showed up dutifully.
"It’s a ton of disrespect; I mean, look, it’s disrespect to John, yes, but this is particularly disrespectful to Top Rank," Hamilton pointed out. "When you take a fight like this, for example, John has a contract; he’s going to get paid either way. But we want the promoter to succeed. So you go to press conferences, we cross the country. In two days, we traveled to San Antonio, to Los Angeles, back to New York. We’re trying to help the promotion. It’s disrespectful to the press people who plan a day, the Mexican fans- he has a ton of them. It’s disrespectful to them. So yeah, it’s disrespectful and it’s not excusable. You know if you had a visa problem two days ago, you had one a month ago.
"So I don’t listen to that. I manage a fighter; you take care of the business. That’s what your job is. My job is to make sure if he has a visa problem- Duddy’s not a naturalized citizen- there’s any issue, we got it taken care of well ahead of when you have to," continued Hamilton.
As the press conference finally began (about a half-hour late), Arum announced that Chavez would be meeting with immigration attorney Frank Ronzio (who once managed David Kamau) to work out all his issues after he met with the media. He said he advised his fighter to stay out of Arizona for the time being.
I think he was being serious.
TOP BARRERA
Marco Antonio Barrera, who waged a legendary trilogy with Erik Morales (long a Top Rank stalwart) is on “Latin Fury 15’.” Seeing Barrera on a Top Rank show is like seeing Derek Jeter in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
"Barrera’s always been the enemy. He’s always been on the opposite side. I may still root for the other guy," Arum joked.
Barrera, according to the veteran promoter, signed a five-fight deal with Beltran (who once co-promoted “El Terrible” with Top Rank).
OK, don’t want to give Arum any ideas, but is there any possibility of Barrera-Morales IV?
"Morales called me yesterday at the office to say, ’I hear Bob’s been looking for me.’ Which I wasn’t. But he left a number for me to call."
Uh-oh.
LATIN FURY FLURRIES
This show will take place at the Alamodome, which has a rich boxing history. Pernell Whitaker faced Chavez here in September of 1993, in front of over 60,000 fans. Oscar De La Hoya knocked out Kamau several years later and Pacquiao knocked out Barrera here in 2003...Also on this card is a bout between bantamweights Eric Morel and Jorge Arce and featherweight Salvador Sanchez III...Adailton De Jesus is slated to take on Barrera...This pay-per-view is priced at $39.95...Say what you will, but the recently retired John Ruiz had himself a pretty good career. He certainly got the most out of his ability...Is there any question that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, and might be so for another decade?...Although Kevin Durant will have something to say about that...Any questions or comments can be directed to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com. You can now become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
Source: secondsout.com
It was made official on Tuesday afternoon at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles that renowned trainer Freddie Roach would take over the training duties for Julio Cesar Chavez
Jr., who faces John Duddy in San Antonio, Texas, on June 26th as the headliner on “Latin Fury 15.” Chavez Jr. will report to the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood on Saturday for his first official day under the watchful eye of Roach.
Jr., who faces John Duddy in San Antonio, Texas, on June 26th as the headliner on “Latin Fury 15.” Chavez Jr. will report to the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood on Saturday for his first official day under the watchful eye of Roach.It’s no secret that Junior’s work ethic has never been described as “Spartan,” but he says that this move represents a new chapter in his career.
"I came here very willing to do whatever I need to do, whatever they ask me to do; that’s what I have to do. Work," said Chavez, through Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez. His own promoter, Bob Arum, has labeled him “lazy,” to which Junior responded, "I always believed I needed a real leader to help me out. I haven’t had that in my camp. I know I have that now."
Roach has a star-studded roster, from Manny Pacquiao on down and the Wild Card is the home to a multitude of world-class prizefighters. And it’s a highly competitive atmosphere, where the weak will not survive. Here, Chavez Jr. isn’t the son of boxing royalty; as of now, he’s just another relatively unproven fighter. He’s basically Vanes Martirosyan with a better boxer lineage."We think Chavez is enormously talented and we have to get somebody to bring out that talent and discipline. And there’s nobody better than Freddie," stated Arum, who took Chavez to the Wild Card a couple of months ago. He admits to being distressed over Chavez’s rather desultory dedication to the sport. "Sure, of course, all of us [are]."
The crime isn’t that Junior is not the equal of his father (very few ever will be at the level of the great “JC Superstar”); it’s that he’s not even reaching his own ceiling as a fighter, which has seemingly turned off more than a few Mexican fans. But perhaps, he will never have the desire of the original Julio Cesar Chavez. After all, he was a child of privilege, one that was born with a silver mouthpiece. How could he have ever had the hunger and drive of his father growing up?
As former major league pitcher Dean Chance (now, incidentally, president of fringe alphabet organization, the IBA) once famously noted, "He was born on third base, but he thinks he hit a triple." At times, that would apply to Chavez.
Arum admits, "Chavez comes from a wealthy family. Marvin Hagler, one of my great fighters, said rich guys who sleep in silk pajamas don’t like to get up in the morning and do roadwork." And judging by the softness in his body in his most recent fights, he looks like a guy who hasn’t been hitting the pavement in the early hours. Last year, the physical conditioners from Velocity- best known for working with Miguel Cotto- were summoned to Big Bear to work with Junior, only to be jettisoned from the mountain a few weeks later. The reason?
It seemed as though they were working Junior just a bit too hard for his liking.
You just wonder; is Chavez boxing because he wants to or because he’s expected to? At times, he does remind one of that trust-fund baby incapable of holding any real responsibility in the real world, yet, will always be bailed out because of who he is. In other sports, it’s not unusual to see kids who come from wealth follow in the footsteps of their fathers. But in boxing, is it even possible?
As you ask this question to Roach, he takes a long pause before saying," I would say mostly no. But the thing is, in some cases, they have the genes of a fighter. Like the Mayweathers and so forth, Floyd Jr. wasn’t brought up as hard as Roger and Floyd Sr. were. He had a little more comfortable of a life because of the success of his uncle, of course. So it’s not impossible, but it’s unusual."
But there’s a key difference here; Floyd Jr., for all his bombast, has an obvious thirst and drive for the sport, along with incredible, natural, God-given ability. Chavez isn’t a bad fighter; he has a pretty good offensive skill set and a good beard. But that’s offset by shoddy conditioning, which has limited his effectiveness in certain fights.
But what happens the first few days when he is pushed to the brink in the gym, when it’s no longer his call on when to call it quits? And can his body take the ballistic training of Roach’s strength-and-training guru, Alex Ariza, in the early mornings? This will be a bit of culture shock for Chavez.
Roach says simply, "[If] he doesn’t work hard, he’ll probably go home." The trainer says he won’t even have to send him on his way. "I’ll give him an opportunity to show me he’s willing to change and work. And I’m going to push him, push him, push him and if he doesn’t respond, he’ll go home on his own. I hear he’s that type of person. But the thing is, if he does have a work ethic, I’ll sit down and talk with him. I’ll give him a chance. But he’s going to get one chance and that’s it."
Roach’s bottom line is simple, "I don’t have time; I have a lot of good fighters that want to work, so I don’t have time to be baby-sitting anybody."
Chavez should have some inkling of what to expect as he dropped by the Wild Card to see Pacquiao perform his daily duties with Roach, before “Pac-Man” faced Joshua Clottey in March. "When he [Chavez] saw Manny work out, he said we were a little crazy. But he saw how I work my fighters and how I push them and so forth. So I’m hoping he sees that as a challenge to him."
The days of being surrounded by yes-men are over, for now. The young man is no longer the boss of his own training.
"It was my camp," Chavez admitted. "I told them what I wanted to do. It was my family and it’s not the same when it’s your family. You tell them what to do; they’re not going to tell me no."
He says later, "It’s a great opportunity for me. You see what he’s done with fighters; he makes them better than they are. I’m hoping he’ll do that for me. He’ll make me work and I can become the best that I can become."
ENABLING
As is usually the case with Chavez Jr., or any fighter handled by Fernando Beltran, the fighter was once again tardy to the press conference on Tuesday, which had Arum a bit antsy. This after the Monday afternoon presser in San Antonio was scrapped because Chavez had some immigration issues.
"We flew down; we got picked up at the airport. We were told then that he wasn’t coming and that there wouldn’t be a press conference," said a rather annoyed Craig Hamilton, who manages Duddy. "So John and I went over and visited the Alamo."
Again, Chavez gets away with it, because he’s allowed to. Meanwhile, everyone else who was scheduled to be there showed up dutifully.
"It’s a ton of disrespect; I mean, look, it’s disrespect to John, yes, but this is particularly disrespectful to Top Rank," Hamilton pointed out. "When you take a fight like this, for example, John has a contract; he’s going to get paid either way. But we want the promoter to succeed. So you go to press conferences, we cross the country. In two days, we traveled to San Antonio, to Los Angeles, back to New York. We’re trying to help the promotion. It’s disrespectful to the press people who plan a day, the Mexican fans- he has a ton of them. It’s disrespectful to them. So yeah, it’s disrespectful and it’s not excusable. You know if you had a visa problem two days ago, you had one a month ago.
"So I don’t listen to that. I manage a fighter; you take care of the business. That’s what your job is. My job is to make sure if he has a visa problem- Duddy’s not a naturalized citizen- there’s any issue, we got it taken care of well ahead of when you have to," continued Hamilton.
As the press conference finally began (about a half-hour late), Arum announced that Chavez would be meeting with immigration attorney Frank Ronzio (who once managed David Kamau) to work out all his issues after he met with the media. He said he advised his fighter to stay out of Arizona for the time being.
I think he was being serious.
TOP BARRERA
Marco Antonio Barrera, who waged a legendary trilogy with Erik Morales (long a Top Rank stalwart) is on “Latin Fury 15’.” Seeing Barrera on a Top Rank show is like seeing Derek Jeter in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
"Barrera’s always been the enemy. He’s always been on the opposite side. I may still root for the other guy," Arum joked.
Barrera, according to the veteran promoter, signed a five-fight deal with Beltran (who once co-promoted “El Terrible” with Top Rank).
OK, don’t want to give Arum any ideas, but is there any possibility of Barrera-Morales IV?
"Morales called me yesterday at the office to say, ’I hear Bob’s been looking for me.’ Which I wasn’t. But he left a number for me to call."
Uh-oh.
LATIN FURY FLURRIES
This show will take place at the Alamodome, which has a rich boxing history. Pernell Whitaker faced Chavez here in September of 1993, in front of over 60,000 fans. Oscar De La Hoya knocked out Kamau several years later and Pacquiao knocked out Barrera here in 2003...Also on this card is a bout between bantamweights Eric Morel and Jorge Arce and featherweight Salvador Sanchez III...Adailton De Jesus is slated to take on Barrera...This pay-per-view is priced at $39.95...Say what you will, but the recently retired John Ruiz had himself a pretty good career. He certainly got the most out of his ability...Is there any question that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, and might be so for another decade?...Although Kevin Durant will have something to say about that...Any questions or comments can be directed to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com. You can now become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
Source: secondsout.com
Monday, 26 April 2010
Does Barrera legend seemingly overshadow Chavez, Jr vs. Duddy main event? -- Examiner
By Matt Stolow, Examiner.com
I never knew what Big George Foreman meant by saying he originally came back to soon until he stood over Michael Moore and had reclaimed the heavyweight world championship as dramatically as it could ever be done.
Now I'm looking over names Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and John Duddy, and fight friendly San Antonio and thinking marketing whiz Lester Bedford already owes me for the piece I did on him on the Pacquiao card recently.
This is Cowboys Stadium vs. San Antonio AlamoDome and it just seems the "Whataburger Man" should naturally be doing the play by play like the late NFL's John Facenda.
So its got to be about come backing Marco Antonio Barrera
. He came back a year ago on actually a decent and necessary pay-per-view card in England I bought one Saturday afternoon to both redeem Amir Khan coming off a first round KO loss and for Frank Warren to pay back Don King who delivered MAB with a quick, bloody technical knockout for Khan but here we are and all I can believe is previous reincarnations of Barrera have been premature.
I know Erik "El Terrible" Morales came back recently and promoter Bob Arum is trying to maneuver Antonio Margarito into the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes but Marco Antonio Barrera?
Haven't we and MAB suffered enough? "I can't explain it, " said Bedford." It's hard to tell these guys "No". It's hard to tell these great fighters to see an end. Who knows, maybe he has a lot more to offer. I know there will be lots of fans in San Antonio glad to see him, either way."
This card with Chavez, Jr. and Duddy would be going on without MAB anyway.
This card is being set up for 17,000 fans and is the first big event for new Alamodome chief Marc Solis, a San Antonio native, boxing friendly, who has been toiling for a few years and with wife building a family in Corpus Christi.
I see this event as a better fit for San Antonio than Dallas.
San Antonio once hosted Barrera vs. a young Manny Pacquiao in 2003 and years later a more mature well-known Pacquiao vs. Mexico 's Jorge Solis.
But today, Dallas, is DALLAS and it already looking down at all but a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, Jr. at its 100,000 seat, $1.2 billion temple in nearby Arlington.
So Monday afternoon they will host a big press conference with Mexican food and BBQ to welcome Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr, John Duddy, Bob Arum, and even come backing Marc Solis and Marco Antonio Barrera.
It will quickly be drowned out by fight week for Mayweather vs. Mosley but it will be good fun while it lasts.
Source: examiner.com
I never knew what Big George Foreman meant by saying he originally came back to soon until he stood over Michael Moore and had reclaimed the heavyweight world championship as dramatically as it could ever be done.
Now I'm looking over names Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and John Duddy, and fight friendly San Antonio and thinking marketing whiz Lester Bedford already owes me for the piece I did on him on the Pacquiao card recently.
This is Cowboys Stadium vs. San Antonio AlamoDome and it just seems the "Whataburger Man" should naturally be doing the play by play like the late NFL's John Facenda.
So its got to be about come backing Marco Antonio Barrera. He came back a year ago on actually a decent and necessary pay-per-view card in England I bought one Saturday afternoon to both redeem Amir Khan coming off a first round KO loss and for Frank Warren to pay back Don King who delivered MAB with a quick, bloody technical knockout for Khan but here we are and all I can believe is previous reincarnations of Barrera have been premature.I know Erik "El Terrible" Morales came back recently and promoter Bob Arum is trying to maneuver Antonio Margarito into the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes but Marco Antonio Barrera?
Haven't we and MAB suffered enough? "I can't explain it, " said Bedford." It's hard to tell these guys "No". It's hard to tell these great fighters to see an end. Who knows, maybe he has a lot more to offer. I know there will be lots of fans in San Antonio glad to see him, either way."
This card with Chavez, Jr. and Duddy would be going on without MAB anyway.
This card is being set up for 17,000 fans and is the first big event for new Alamodome chief Marc Solis, a San Antonio native, boxing friendly, who has been toiling for a few years and with wife building a family in Corpus Christi.
I see this event as a better fit for San Antonio than Dallas.
San Antonio once hosted Barrera vs. a young Manny Pacquiao in 2003 and years later a more mature well-known Pacquiao vs. Mexico 's Jorge Solis.
But today, Dallas, is DALLAS and it already looking down at all but a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, Jr. at its 100,000 seat, $1.2 billion temple in nearby Arlington.
So Monday afternoon they will host a big press conference with Mexican food and BBQ to welcome Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr, John Duddy, Bob Arum, and even come backing Marc Solis and Marco Antonio Barrera.
It will quickly be drowned out by fight week for Mayweather vs. Mosley but it will be good fun while it lasts.
Source: examiner.com
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Marco Antonio Barrera To Return On June 26th Duddy-Chavez Jr Card? -- Eastside Boxing
By James Slater, Eastside Boxing
When he was last seen in a ring, Mexican legend and former multi-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera was being out-pointed by the much faster Amir Khan, on the way to an eventual TD loss that came about due to a nasty cut Barrera picked up due to a butt that was ruled accidental. Afterwards, the then 35-year-old all-time great insisted that Khan never hurt him with any of his punches, and later still Marco's promoter Don King tried to get the decision overturned..
It was not to be, however, and Barrera, who slipped to 65-7(43) disappeared for over a year. Now, according to Box Rec, "The Baby Faced Assassin" will return to action on June 26th; when he will fight an as yet unknown foe on the Julio Cesar Chavez Junior-John Duddy bill in San Antonio, Texas. It's not clear which weight class Barrera will box in, how many rounds his comeback bout will be set for, or whether or not his opponent will be of the world class variety.
Prior to his upset loss to Khan in March of last year, Barrera had won two fights on the spin against limited opposition; these wins having followed his back-to-back points losses to Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao in 2007. Unless we're in for a real surprise, Barrera will almost certainly face a "so-so" type fighter in June.
The Khan fight showed us that Barrera can no longer handle speed, and it also showed us that he is even easier to hit these days (he was never all that tough to nail, even in his prime). The TD loss also showed that Barrera, if matched right, could perhaps still win a biggish fight or two. Certainly, though he was only able to really tag the elusive Khan with one good shot to the head in the entire 5-rounds, Barrera did not look like the typical "shot" fighter.
That fight was at lightweight, although Barrera's two wins before the loss to Khan took place at or around the light-welterweight mark. Who knows what weight the one-time bantamweight will come in at on June 26th. One thing that does spring to mind upon reading about Barrera's in-the-works return, though, is the possibility that he may soon be hooking up with one-time fierce rival Erik Morales. As fans know, "El Terrible," three years younger than Barrera, made his own successful ring return, up at full welterweight, back in March. Morales, 49-6(34) is set to try to follow up his points win over the useful Jose Alfaro with another winning fight, again in Mexico, on July 24th (thus far a TBA). Could we, then, soon be seeing a Barrera-Morales IV?
When last seen together, the two one-time heated rivals were all smiles as they posed for photos. Still, though the hatred they once had for one another has faded, it doesn't mean they won't fight again; especially if big money were offered. But would a fourth fight between the two legends generate big money? And at what weight would the two ageing warriors fight at?
We'll have to see how Barrera does on June 26th (and Morales on July 24th) before we can tell if there is any serious chance of the two "doing it again," but would you be shocked if they did fight for a fourth time?
Source: eastsideboxing.com
When he was last seen in a ring, Mexican legend and former multi-weight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera was being out-pointed by the much faster Amir Khan, on the way to an eventual TD loss that came about due to a nasty cut Barrera picked up due to a butt that was ruled accidental. Afterwards, the then 35-year-old all-time great insisted that Khan never hurt him with any of his punches, and later still Marco's promoter Don King tried to get the decision overturned..
It was not to be, however, and Barrera, who slipped to 65-7(43) disappeared for over a year. Now, according to Box Rec, "The Baby Faced Assassin" will return to action on June 26th; when he will fight an as yet unknown foe on the Julio Cesar Chavez Junior-John Duddy bill in San Antonio, Texas. It's not clear which weight class Barrera will box in, how many rounds his comeback bout will be set for, or whether or not his opponent will be of the world class variety.
Prior to his upset loss to Khan in March of last year, Barrera had won two fights on the spin against limited opposition; these wins having followed his back-to-back points losses to Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao in 2007. Unless we're in for a real surprise, Barrera will almost certainly face a "so-so" type fighter in June.
The Khan fight showed us that Barrera can no longer handle speed, and it also showed us that he is even easier to hit these days (he was never all that tough to nail, even in his prime). The TD loss also showed that Barrera, if matched right, could perhaps still win a biggish fight or two. Certainly, though he was only able to really tag the elusive Khan with one good shot to the head in the entire 5-rounds, Barrera did not look like the typical "shot" fighter.
That fight was at lightweight, although Barrera's two wins before the loss to Khan took place at or around the light-welterweight mark. Who knows what weight the one-time bantamweight will come in at on June 26th. One thing that does spring to mind upon reading about Barrera's in-the-works return, though, is the possibility that he may soon be hooking up with one-time fierce rival Erik Morales. As fans know, "El Terrible," three years younger than Barrera, made his own successful ring return, up at full welterweight, back in March. Morales, 49-6(34) is set to try to follow up his points win over the useful Jose Alfaro with another winning fight, again in Mexico, on July 24th (thus far a TBA). Could we, then, soon be seeing a Barrera-Morales IV?
When last seen together, the two one-time heated rivals were all smiles as they posed for photos. Still, though the hatred they once had for one another has faded, it doesn't mean they won't fight again; especially if big money were offered. But would a fourth fight between the two legends generate big money? And at what weight would the two ageing warriors fight at?
We'll have to see how Barrera does on June 26th (and Morales on July 24th) before we can tell if there is any serious chance of the two "doing it again," but would you be shocked if they did fight for a fourth time?
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Morales went out a HERO.. but he comes back a FOOL -- Mirror
By Barry Mcguigan, Mirror.co.uk
His first fight with Barrera is in my top 10 bouts of all time, an unbelievable meeting of fire and brimstone inside the ropes.
Morales is the last man to beat Manny Pacquiao five years ago but then he went on the slide, losing the next four fights before retiring.
There is no doubt that hanging up the gloves two and a half years ago was the right thing to do.
Tonight in Monterrey, El Terrible is returning to the ring aged 34 against a Nicaraguan journeyman called Jose Alfaro.
What is going on? There is no worse sight in sport than a shot fighter yearning for the past, a shadow of his former self.
In my 15 years as president of the Professional Boxers Association this was the biggest problem I had to address.
Next week Roy Jones Jnr takes on Bernard Hopkins 17 years after their first meeting. Jones reckons he will knock out Hopkins. It would be laughable if it were not so serious.
Morales conceded on retirement that he had taken too many punches to warrant extending his career. What has happened since then to change his mind?
Those punches have not gone away. He is no less susceptible to the dangers of long-term, slowonset impairment. He says he is targeting a fourth fight with Pacquiao. He must be dreaming. Pacquaio himself is hinting at retirement, doubtless to smoke out Floyd Mayweather.
But he won't hang around to beat up an old pug who cannot adhere to basic referee's instructions - defend yourself at all times.
The best outcome tonight would be a resounding victory for Alfaro. Sadly, that is unlikely given his pedigree.
It is a bad end to a sad week. My phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to discuss the passing of Harry Carpenter. Harry had been out of the limelight for 16 years, yet people remember him as if it were yesterday.
He went out at the top is no of his game and died in his sleep, aged 84. I would sign for that right now.
I recall Harry saying how he thought I had done the right thing when I retired. He was pleased I got out in good shape.
Morales is walking a tightrope that leads only one way - to misery and failure.
I prefer to remember him at his peak, standing toe to toe with Barrera going flat out to the finish. I have rarely seen such raw power and ferocity reciprocated so skilfully. They went through the full canon of boxing skills.
Morales not only hit like a mule, he could take a punch too.
He went out a hero and comes back a fool. Boxing is a young man's game.
Source: mirror.co.uk
Erik Morales
stands third in my all-time list of Mexican fighters behind Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera. That is how highly I rate him.
stands third in my all-time list of Mexican fighters behind Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera. That is how highly I rate him.His first fight with Barrera is in my top 10 bouts of all time, an unbelievable meeting of fire and brimstone inside the ropes.
Morales is the last man to beat Manny Pacquiao five years ago but then he went on the slide, losing the next four fights before retiring.Tonight in Monterrey, El Terrible is returning to the ring aged 34 against a Nicaraguan journeyman called Jose Alfaro.
What is going on? There is no worse sight in sport than a shot fighter yearning for the past, a shadow of his former self.
In my 15 years as president of the Professional Boxers Association this was the biggest problem I had to address.
Next week Roy Jones Jnr takes on Bernard Hopkins 17 years after their first meeting. Jones reckons he will knock out Hopkins. It would be laughable if it were not so serious.
Morales conceded on retirement that he had taken too many punches to warrant extending his career. What has happened since then to change his mind?
Those punches have not gone away. He is no less susceptible to the dangers of long-term, slowonset impairment. He says he is targeting a fourth fight with Pacquiao. He must be dreaming. Pacquaio himself is hinting at retirement, doubtless to smoke out Floyd Mayweather.
But he won't hang around to beat up an old pug who cannot adhere to basic referee's instructions - defend yourself at all times.
The best outcome tonight would be a resounding victory for Alfaro. Sadly, that is unlikely given his pedigree.
It is a bad end to a sad week. My phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to discuss the passing of Harry Carpenter. Harry had been out of the limelight for 16 years, yet people remember him as if it were yesterday.
He went out at the top is no of his game and died in his sleep, aged 84. I would sign for that right now.
I recall Harry saying how he thought I had done the right thing when I retired. He was pleased I got out in good shape.
Morales is walking a tightrope that leads only one way - to misery and failure.
I prefer to remember him at his peak, standing toe to toe with Barrera going flat out to the finish. I have rarely seen such raw power and ferocity reciprocated so skilfully. They went through the full canon of boxing skills.
Morales not only hit like a mule, he could take a punch too.
He went out a hero and comes back a fool. Boxing is a young man's game.
Source: mirror.co.uk
Friday, 26 March 2010
Erik Morales: “Technically I have always known that I am better than Manny Pacquiao” -- Eastside Boxing
By Geoffrey Ciani, Eastside Boxing
This past week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with three division champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales. “El Terrible” was last seen inside the squared circle when he lost a somewhat controversial decision at the hands of David Diaz back in August 2007. This Saturday night Morales returns to the ring for the first time in a fight against former WBA lightweight champion Jose Alfaro. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
On coming back after nearly a two and a half year layoff:
“Yes, the rest was very good for me because I had a lot of physical fights and now, after two years, I feel well rested so things will turn out different for me.”
Regarding his thoughts on coming back:
“For me it is very important to give all of my heart inside the ring. I’ve always been able to accomplish that because I have always had the public behind me and that’s why I want to invite everyone on the 27th because it’s going to be no exception—it’s also going to be a great, great fight..”
Regarding his last fight where he suffered a disputed loss against David Diaz:
“The fight with David Diaz I did not lose. I think the judges beat me and psychologically for me it was not good for me in that moment, but now I am ready.”
On the controversial decision he lost in his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera
:
On being the last person to defeat current pound for pound King Manny Pacquiao:
“When I first fought him it was at 130 pounds. The second time he would not give me the chance to fight at 132 pounds and now he is fighting at 147 and I am coming back to fight at 147 also. I’m hoping that at a time not too long from now when the people see I can still do great, great things in the ring, I’m hoping that Manny Pacquiao will give me the chance to show he’s not the best in the world, because what I remember after twelve rounds is Manny Pacquiao crying—and crying and crying and crying because he knew about the beating he had just taken and he knew at that time there was somebody technically better than him. He had to find some way to be at an advantage to try and control me. That’s the way history was written, but here I am—brand new.”
On what he would do differently if he was to have a fourth fight with Pacquiao:
“The first time I fought him I just went right through him. The second time I went through him until the middle part of the fight but then I just ran out of steam and the third time I was just not able to, but now—I really value my condition more than ever before and so therefore now, I feel that I will show him I am much better than him. Technically I have always known that I am better than Manny Pacquiao, but now physically—that technicality and that skill and conditioning are all one and the same.”
Regarding his plan to compete in the welterweight division:
“I feel I can fight at welterweight easily. I can fight Pacquiao, I can fight (Juan Manuel) Marquez who has already fought at 147, and I can fight (Miguel) Cotto. I can fight any of those guys easily at 147 pounds. I feel very, very confident there.”
His views on Juan Manuel Marquez as a fighter:
“I’ve talked to Golden Boy about the possibility of fighting Juan Manuel Marquez. I think he’s a complete fighter, he’s an excellent fighter, but by the same token—there’s been Barrera and me, there’s been Pacquiao and me, there’s been all of those people with me but the one name missing is Juan Manuel Marquez. I am looking forward for the chance to fight Marquez.”
On whether he was disappointed he never got the opportunity to face Prince Naseem Hamed:
“Not at all. I’ve created my own legacy with the great fighters that I have fought so I never really needed Naseem Hamed and after he lost to Barrera he just disappeared.”
Regarding the story behind how he first started using the “El Terrible” moniker:
“Let it be told, that nickname was not given to me as a fighter but it was because I was so mischievous out in the street and it was actually given to me in the street.”
On Manny Pacquiao’s recent run of success in the higher weight classes:
“First of all, I respect all the hard work that Manny Pacquiao has put in with scaling the different weight divisions and showing tremendous dominance. For my particular taste, those fights were not a pleasure because they seemed way too easy and it defies logic how easily Pacquiao was able to win all of those fights.”
On whether he thinks rumors circulating about Pacquiao taking any illegal substances have any basis in truth:
“ I’m not really there so I don’t really know. I guess a lot of times when you don’t fear anything you’re willing to take anything or any of that stuff, but the bottom line is I don’t really know anything about that stuff so it’s not really for me to go ahead and decide.”
On what he considers to be his most complete performance:
“Obviously, winning my first title. I’ve had so many great moments. Winning my first title was one of them. The second being when I fought and unified the titles against Barrera, and of course, when I fought Pacquiao because everybody thought he was the best 130 pound fighter in the world and so therefore going in there, and also winning my third world title. They have all been great moments for me.”
On being a part of the famous trilogy with Marco Antonio Barrera:
“Basically we both had a warrior mentality where we both came in and gave it everything we had. That was the thing that united us in the ring—the will and the warrior mentality to give it everything that we had.”
Regarding whether or not he received any added satisfaction in his win over Junior Jones because Jones twice bested Barrera:
“Obviously, there have been two opponents that have been very, very important in my career. One of them of course as you just mentioned, was Junior Jones who had beaten 32 Mexicans before he got to me and so to go ahead and put a beating on him and beat him, that was a tremendous pleasure. Then after that it was Manny Pacquiao
. Being the first Mexican fighter to ever beat Manny Pacquiao, that was a tremendous pleasure and also because of how many other Mexican fighters Pacquiao has beaten. So those have been the two fighters that are so, so important for my career.”
On whether he would ever consider having a fourth fight with Barrera:
“No, not really. I feel that Marco Antonio Barrera is retired and that he is now done with boxing—especially not at 147 pounds, I don’t think Barrera would ever want that.”
Regarding how he would ultimately like to be remembered by boxing fans:
“Like they’ve always known me—as a great, great warrior who gives his heart in the ring.”
On how he feels he will perform in his next fight against Jose Alfaro:
“First of all, I’m quicker than ever. I feel very comfortable at this weight because I feel I can let it all go. I can let it all go in the ring and I’m going up against a guy who was a world champion. He’s a tremendous, tremendous puncher and he’s a very young guy so he’s going to be anxious to make great fight so therefore it’s going to make for a great, great fight—but, I am more than ready for the task. Whatever is in front of me I am more than ready to show the world that I am back.”
Regarding his future plans in the event he beats Alfaro:
“First of all, the number one thing is that when I go in there the people are going to go ahead and rate me. So I am waiting for the people to go ahead and rate me and let them decide who, in fact, they would like to see me fight. So on your radio show or anything like that if you have some suggestions after the fight, let everybody decide what level I am fighting and let everyone voice their opinion and then they can pick who I fight next.”
His official prediction on his upcoming fight with Alfaro:
“We’re going to make a great, great fight—a beautiful fight—but we’re going to win.”
***
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***
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Source: eastsideboxing.com
This past week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with three division champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales. “El Terrible” was last seen inside the squared circle when he lost a somewhat controversial decision at the hands of David Diaz back in August 2007. This Saturday night Morales returns to the ring for the first time in a fight against former WBA lightweight champion Jose Alfaro. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
On coming back after nearly a two and a half year layoff:
“Yes, the rest was very good for me because I had a lot of physical fights and now, after two years, I feel well rested so things will turn out different for me.”
Regarding his thoughts on coming back:
“For me it is very important to give all of my heart inside the ring. I’ve always been able to accomplish that because I have always had the public behind me and that’s why I want to invite everyone on the 27th because it’s going to be no exception—it’s also going to be a great, great fight..”
Regarding his last fight where he suffered a disputed loss against David Diaz:
“The fight with David Diaz I did not lose. I think the judges beat me and psychologically for me it was not good for me in that moment, but now I am ready.”
On the controversial decision he lost in his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera:“I felt that in the first fight I was very, very happy because I won the fight. Barrera was very, very sad because he thought he won and they didn’t give it to him. In the second one, I thought for sure I had won that fight. I was celebrating like I had just won and Barrera never ever celebrated because he knew that even though they gave him the victory he could not celebrate. To me the most important thing in each of my fights is that all of the people that came to watch me fight are leaving happy that they saw a great fight leaving the arena. It doesn’t matter if I won or lost because I want those people to be entertained because they paid for those tickets.”
On being the last person to defeat current pound for pound King Manny Pacquiao:
“When I first fought him it was at 130 pounds. The second time he would not give me the chance to fight at 132 pounds and now he is fighting at 147 and I am coming back to fight at 147 also. I’m hoping that at a time not too long from now when the people see I can still do great, great things in the ring, I’m hoping that Manny Pacquiao will give me the chance to show he’s not the best in the world, because what I remember after twelve rounds is Manny Pacquiao crying—and crying and crying and crying because he knew about the beating he had just taken and he knew at that time there was somebody technically better than him. He had to find some way to be at an advantage to try and control me. That’s the way history was written, but here I am—brand new.”
On what he would do differently if he was to have a fourth fight with Pacquiao:
“The first time I fought him I just went right through him. The second time I went through him until the middle part of the fight but then I just ran out of steam and the third time I was just not able to, but now—I really value my condition more than ever before and so therefore now, I feel that I will show him I am much better than him. Technically I have always known that I am better than Manny Pacquiao, but now physically—that technicality and that skill and conditioning are all one and the same.”
Regarding his plan to compete in the welterweight division:
“I feel I can fight at welterweight easily. I can fight Pacquiao, I can fight (Juan Manuel) Marquez who has already fought at 147, and I can fight (Miguel) Cotto. I can fight any of those guys easily at 147 pounds. I feel very, very confident there.”
His views on Juan Manuel Marquez as a fighter:
“I’ve talked to Golden Boy about the possibility of fighting Juan Manuel Marquez. I think he’s a complete fighter, he’s an excellent fighter, but by the same token—there’s been Barrera and me, there’s been Pacquiao and me, there’s been all of those people with me but the one name missing is Juan Manuel Marquez. I am looking forward for the chance to fight Marquez.”
On whether he was disappointed he never got the opportunity to face Prince Naseem Hamed:
“Not at all. I’ve created my own legacy with the great fighters that I have fought so I never really needed Naseem Hamed and after he lost to Barrera he just disappeared.”
Regarding the story behind how he first started using the “El Terrible” moniker:
“Let it be told, that nickname was not given to me as a fighter but it was because I was so mischievous out in the street and it was actually given to me in the street.”
On Manny Pacquiao’s recent run of success in the higher weight classes:
“First of all, I respect all the hard work that Manny Pacquiao has put in with scaling the different weight divisions and showing tremendous dominance. For my particular taste, those fights were not a pleasure because they seemed way too easy and it defies logic how easily Pacquiao was able to win all of those fights.”
On whether he thinks rumors circulating about Pacquiao taking any illegal substances have any basis in truth:
“ I’m not really there so I don’t really know. I guess a lot of times when you don’t fear anything you’re willing to take anything or any of that stuff, but the bottom line is I don’t really know anything about that stuff so it’s not really for me to go ahead and decide.”
On what he considers to be his most complete performance:
“Obviously, winning my first title. I’ve had so many great moments. Winning my first title was one of them. The second being when I fought and unified the titles against Barrera, and of course, when I fought Pacquiao because everybody thought he was the best 130 pound fighter in the world and so therefore going in there, and also winning my third world title. They have all been great moments for me.”
On being a part of the famous trilogy with Marco Antonio Barrera:
“Basically we both had a warrior mentality where we both came in and gave it everything we had. That was the thing that united us in the ring—the will and the warrior mentality to give it everything that we had.”
Regarding whether or not he received any added satisfaction in his win over Junior Jones because Jones twice bested Barrera:
“Obviously, there have been two opponents that have been very, very important in my career. One of them of course as you just mentioned, was Junior Jones who had beaten 32 Mexicans before he got to me and so to go ahead and put a beating on him and beat him, that was a tremendous pleasure. Then after that it was Manny Pacquiao. Being the first Mexican fighter to ever beat Manny Pacquiao, that was a tremendous pleasure and also because of how many other Mexican fighters Pacquiao has beaten. So those have been the two fighters that are so, so important for my career.”On whether he would ever consider having a fourth fight with Barrera:
“No, not really. I feel that Marco Antonio Barrera is retired and that he is now done with boxing—especially not at 147 pounds, I don’t think Barrera would ever want that.”
Regarding how he would ultimately like to be remembered by boxing fans:
“Like they’ve always known me—as a great, great warrior who gives his heart in the ring.”
On how he feels he will perform in his next fight against Jose Alfaro:
“First of all, I’m quicker than ever. I feel very comfortable at this weight because I feel I can let it all go. I can let it all go in the ring and I’m going up against a guy who was a world champion. He’s a tremendous, tremendous puncher and he’s a very young guy so he’s going to be anxious to make great fight so therefore it’s going to make for a great, great fight—but, I am more than ready for the task. Whatever is in front of me I am more than ready to show the world that I am back.”
Regarding his future plans in the event he beats Alfaro:
“First of all, the number one thing is that when I go in there the people are going to go ahead and rate me. So I am waiting for the people to go ahead and rate me and let them decide who, in fact, they would like to see me fight. So on your radio show or anything like that if you have some suggestions after the fight, let everybody decide what level I am fighting and let everyone voice their opinion and then they can pick who I fight next.”
His official prediction on his upcoming fight with Alfaro:
“We’re going to make a great, great fight—a beautiful fight—but we’re going to win.”
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Source: eastsideboxing.com
Erik Morales Returns to Ring Against Jose Alfaro -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
"Morales has sealed a respected reputation in boxing, in my humble opinion, because he's done so much. I believe that he's going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer," said Robert Morales, of the Los Angeles Daily News and The Long Beach Press Telegram. "I don't think that there is anything that could stop him from being recognized as one of Mexico's greatest fighters of the past 25 years."
Two fights later, however, Morales, nicknamed, "El Terrible," stopped Jones in four rounds on the way to running his own unbeaten mark to 35 bouts.
Born in Tijuana, Mex., Morales lost two out of three fights with Mexico City's Barrera, a classic trilogy that reached a legendary status which, for Mexicans, rivals the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
After defeating Morales in their third meeting by majority decision in November, 2004, Barrera extended his hand to Morales, only to get a water bottle thrown at him.
"At one point, Barrera had referred to Morales as an 'Indio,' which means 'Indian,' and for someone from the well-to-do, Southern part of of Mexico like Barrera to say that to a guy from the down-trodden, Northern part of Mexico, Tijuana, like Morales was, that's quite an insult," said Robert Morales, a Mexican-American who is not related to Erik Morales.
"One guy who was born in Mexico but who now lives in the United States told me that 'Indio' was as bad as somebody using the N-word," said Morales. "That's what started the animosity and the real dislike for each other. And ther was no question that by the time these guys got done with their three fights, they just did not like each other."
But following that second loss to Barrera, Morales bounced back by earning a March, 2005, unanimous decision over future seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao.
Since then, however, Pacquiao has gone 12-0, with eight knockouts -- including two stoppages over Morales -- earned Fighter Of The Year honors three straight times, been named Fighter Of The Decade, and agruably become the sport's best fighter, pound-for-pound.
Morales lost, 115-112, 111-113, and, 114-113, to Diaz, who prevented Morales from becoming the first Mexican fighter to win a crown in four divisions.
Morales announced his retirement in the ring following losing to Diaz, which was his fourth straight setback, and the fifth in his last six fights.
"The smaller fighters usually have been in a lot of wars and take a lot of punishment because there are a lot more punches delivered. And his first championship was at super bantamweight [122 pounds,]" said Robert Morales, referring to Morales' September, 1997, 11th-round knockout of Daniel Zaragoza.
"So I don't see any reason for him to come back unless he needs the money or is in a financial hardship," said Morales. "Something like that could tarnish his legacy just a little bit because Morales has nothing left to prove."
But the 33-year-old, former three-division, world champion, is coming back.
For Morales (48-6, 34 knockouts) will end a 31-month ring absence on Saturday night when he takes on 26-year-old Jose "Jicaras" Alfaro (23-5, 20 KOs), of Nagarote, Nicaragua, in a 12-round, 142-pound bout in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mex.
Among Morales' goals during the comeback are a fourth-straight match up with Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), as well as a shot at Mexican great, Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), a WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion and three-division titlist who has beaten Barrera, lost a disputed decision to Pacquiao and battled Pacquiao to a draw.
"I would love another chance at Pacquaio," said Morales, "and I also look forward to fighting Juan Manuel Marquez in the future."
Morales said that he would like to face Pacquiao at 147 pounds.
"At 147, I'm faster than ever and freer with my body, so I can get the most out of it. First, though, is my fight against Jose Alfaro on March 27th in Monterrey on pay per view," said Morales.
"Alfaro is a great young fighter and a former world champion. He's a wicked puncher who will bring his best," said Morales. "Alfaro has a big heart that he will bring into the ring, and he always gives fans everything he has."
Last seen in the ring on Halloween, however, Alfaro was absorbing a one-sided beating at the hands of Mexican southpaw, Antonio DeMarco, who won virtually every round of their WBC interim lightweight title bout before stopping Alfaro in the 10th.
Alfaro had won three straight fights, two of them by knockout, before facing DeMarco at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Alfaro was attempting to line himself up for another shot at the WBA crown, which he had won in December of 2007 by split decision over Thailand's Prawet Singwancha.
Alfaro, however, was promptly dethroned by Japan's Yusuke Kobori, who stopped Alfaro in the third round of his first defense in May of 2008.
"I do not mind that Morales 
is the favorite in this fight. I understand, but I had the best training camp of my life, in my country, and I'm going to win," said Alfaro. "My youth and strength will dominate this match. I know that I'm going to be taking the victory to back to Nicaragua."
"I'm happy to be here [in Monterrey,] and completely ready to face Alfaro. Fans will see a different Erik Morales than in my last few fights," said Morales.
"Now I'm hungry to win this fight and to go on toward winning a world title in my fourth division," said Morales. "I want to prove to everyone watching that all of the hard work in training camp will result in a great performance in my return to the ring."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Erik Morales' 
legacy as one of the premiere Mexican fighters is no doubt secure, as is his reputation as one of the best boxers ever to lace on a pair of gloves.
legacy as one of the premiere Mexican fighters is no doubt secure, as is his reputation as one of the best boxers ever to lace on a pair of gloves."Morales has sealed a respected reputation in boxing, in my humble opinion, because he's done so much. I believe that he's going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer," said Robert Morales, of the Los Angeles Daily News and The Long Beach Press Telegram. "I don't think that there is anything that could stop him from being recognized as one of Mexico's greatest fighters of the past 25 years."
In November and April of 1996, and, 1997, respectively, Junior Jones handed the previously unbeaten Marco Antonio Barrera
consecutive losses by fifth-round disqualification, and, unanimous decision.
consecutive losses by fifth-round disqualification, and, unanimous decision. Two fights later, however, Morales, nicknamed, "El Terrible," stopped Jones in four rounds on the way to running his own unbeaten mark to 35 bouts.
Born in Tijuana, Mex., Morales lost two out of three fights with Mexico City's Barrera, a classic trilogy that reached a legendary status which, for Mexicans, rivals the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Barrera-Morales
" is probably the greatest trilogy in boxing history," noted boxing historian, Burt Sugar, said in 2004. "Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier II was a non-fight, and Tony Zale-Rocky Graziano III was a walk-over," said Sugar. "Barrera-Morales is the only trilogy where each of the three fights was as good as the other."
" is probably the greatest trilogy in boxing history," noted boxing historian, Burt Sugar, said in 2004. "Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier II was a non-fight, and Tony Zale-Rocky Graziano III was a walk-over," said Sugar. "Barrera-Morales is the only trilogy where each of the three fights was as good as the other." After defeating Morales in their third meeting by majority decision in November, 2004, Barrera extended his hand to Morales, only to get a water bottle thrown at him."One guy who was born in Mexico but who now lives in the United States told me that 'Indio' was as bad as somebody using the N-word," said Morales. "That's what started the animosity and the real dislike for each other. And ther was no question that by the time these guys got done with their three fights, they just did not like each other."
But following that second loss to Barrera, Morales bounced back by earning a March, 2005, unanimous decision over future seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao.
Since then, however, Pacquiao has gone 12-0, with eight knockouts -- including two stoppages over Morales -- earned Fighter Of The Year honors three straight times, been named Fighter Of The Decade, and agruably become the sport's best fighter, pound-for-pound.
"The two opponents who have defined my career are Junior Jones and Manny Pacquaio
. Defeating Jones was important to me because he had stopped something like 32 Mexicans in previous fights," said Morales, who will turn 34 in September. "Defeating Pacquaio is my greatest accomplishment in the ring. I remember seeing him cry after our fight."
. Defeating Jones was important to me because he had stopped something like 32 Mexicans in previous fights," said Morales, who will turn 34 in September. "Defeating Pacquaio is my greatest accomplishment in the ring. I remember seeing him cry after our fight."But Morales' career took a downward spiral following the victory over Pacquiao, after which, in succession, he was decisioned by Zahir Raheem in September of 2005, stopped in 10, and, three rounds, by Pacquiao, respectively, in January, and, November, of 2006, and, decisioned by David Diaz in August of 2007.
Morales lost, 115-112, 111-113, and, 114-113, to Diaz, who prevented Morales from becoming the first Mexican fighter to win a crown in four divisions.Morales announced his retirement in the ring following losing to Diaz, which was his fourth straight setback, and the fifth in his last six fights.
"The smaller fighters usually have been in a lot of wars and take a lot of punishment because there are a lot more punches delivered. And his first championship was at super bantamweight [122 pounds,]" said Robert Morales, referring to Morales' September, 1997, 11th-round knockout of Daniel Zaragoza.
"So I don't see any reason for him to come back unless he needs the money or is in a financial hardship," said Morales. "Something like that could tarnish his legacy just a little bit because Morales has nothing left to prove."
But the 33-year-old, former three-division, world champion, is coming back.
For Morales (48-6, 34 knockouts) will end a 31-month ring absence on Saturday night when he takes on 26-year-old Jose "Jicaras" Alfaro (23-5, 20 KOs), of Nagarote, Nicaragua, in a 12-round, 142-pound bout in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mex.
Among Morales' goals during the comeback are a fourth-straight match up with Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), as well as a shot at Mexican great, Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), a WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion and three-division titlist who has beaten Barrera, lost a disputed decision to Pacquiao and battled Pacquiao to a draw.
"I would love another chance at Pacquaio," said Morales, "and I also look forward to fighting Juan Manuel Marquez in the future."
Morales said that he would like to face Pacquiao at 147 pounds.
"At 147, I'm faster than ever and freer with my body, so I can get the most out of it. First, though, is my fight against Jose Alfaro on March 27th in Monterrey on pay per view," said Morales.
"Alfaro is a great young fighter and a former world champion. He's a wicked puncher who will bring his best," said Morales. "Alfaro has a big heart that he will bring into the ring, and he always gives fans everything he has."
Last seen in the ring on Halloween, however, Alfaro was absorbing a one-sided beating at the hands of Mexican southpaw, Antonio DeMarco, who won virtually every round of their WBC interim lightweight title bout before stopping Alfaro in the 10th.
Alfaro had won three straight fights, two of them by knockout, before facing DeMarco at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Alfaro was attempting to line himself up for another shot at the WBA crown, which he had won in December of 2007 by split decision over Thailand's Prawet Singwancha.
Alfaro, however, was promptly dethroned by Japan's Yusuke Kobori, who stopped Alfaro in the third round of his first defense in May of 2008.
"I do not mind that Morales is the favorite in this fight. I understand, but I had the best training camp of my life, in my country, and I'm going to win," said Alfaro. "My youth and strength will dominate this match. I know that I'm going to be taking the victory to back to Nicaragua."Among the bouts on the Morales-Alfaro undercard is a 12-round co-feature between former two-time, WBA light heavyweight (175 pounds) champion, Hugo Hernan "Pigu" Garay (32-4, 17 KOs), of Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina, against Chris "Hard Hittin" Henry (24-2, 19 KOs), of Houston, Tex., in a WBA eliminator.
"I'm happy to be here [in Monterrey,] and completely ready to face Alfaro. Fans will see a different Erik Morales than in my last few fights," said Morales.
"Now I'm hungry to win this fight and to go on toward winning a world title in my fourth division," said Morales. "I want to prove to everyone watching that all of the hard work in training camp will result in a great performance in my return to the ring."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Friday, 23 October 2009
Pacquiao to appear on 'Kimmel' TV show before Cotto bout
GMANewsTV.com
Proof that indeed, he already gained international fame, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is set to appear on the popular US late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live" two weeks from now.
Pacquiao will be guesting in the program hosted by Kimmel and broadcast over ABC on Nov. 4, marking his first-ever appearance in a major American prime time show.
Pacquiao His appearance also comes exactly 10 days before his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas, Navada.
The world’s top pound-for-pound king is set to leave for the U.S. Saturday night together with trainer Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza to resume the remaining two weeks of his training camp at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.
He spent more than a month getting in shape for his fight with Cotto at the Shape-Up gym in Baguio City.
Ever since he stunned Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera with an 11th round technical knockout in 2003, Pacquiao has become one of the biggest names in boxing this decade.
His meteoric rise to become the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, was validated when he beat up the great Oscar De La Hoya in their so-called “Dream Match" last year for eight full rounds and followed it up with a two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton last May.
The interview with Pacquiao comes in the heels of a recorded 1.80 million audience that watched the “Jimmy Kimmel Live" episode last September when former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson appeared in the show - GMANews.TV
**************************************************
Proof that indeed, he already gained international fame, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is set to appear on the popular US late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live" two weeks from now.
Pacquiao will be guesting in the program hosted by Kimmel and broadcast over ABC on Nov. 4, marking his first-ever appearance in a major American prime time show.
Pacquiao His appearance also comes exactly 10 days before his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas, Navada.
The world’s top pound-for-pound king is set to leave for the U.S. Saturday night together with trainer Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza to resume the remaining two weeks of his training camp at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.
He spent more than a month getting in shape for his fight with Cotto at the Shape-Up gym in Baguio City.
Ever since he stunned Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera with an 11th round technical knockout in 2003, Pacquiao has become one of the biggest names in boxing this decade.
His meteoric rise to become the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, was validated when he beat up the great Oscar De La Hoya in their so-called “Dream Match" last year for eight full rounds and followed it up with a two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton last May.
The interview with Pacquiao comes in the heels of a recorded 1.80 million audience that watched the “Jimmy Kimmel Live" episode last September when former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson appeared in the show - GMANews.TV
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The Lakers @ Jimmy Kimmel Live (Source: YouTube.com)
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