
Superstars MANNY PACQUIAO and
MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA
collide in a 12-round super featherweight title fight,
Saturday, October 6. Promoted by Golden Boy and
Top Rank, the Pacquiao-Barrera title rumble will take place at
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and
broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Tickets are on sale now and are priced at $600, $400, $300,
$200 and $100. They can be purchased at the Mandalay Bay
Hotel & Casino box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster
locations (Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and
Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card,
call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or
Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available
for purchase at
www.mandalaybay.com or
www.ticketmaster.com.
Pacquiao-Barrera is a battle between legendary three-division
world champions. Pacquiao (44-3-2, 35 KOs), of General Santos
City. The Philippines, defeated Barrera (63-5, 42 KOs), of
Mexico City, Mexico, in their exciting first encounter in
2003, claiming the 'Baby Face Assassin’s' featherweight title.
Pacquiao is considered by many, boxing’s pound for pound most
exciting fighter.
“Fighting Barrera is a career highlight for me,” said
Pacquiao. “He has already beaten great world champions like
Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed and Johnny Tapia and I know I am
going to have to train harder than I ever have before to beat
him. But I am fully prepared to sacrifice and do everything
necessary to beat him. And I will. It’s going to be another
great night for fight fans.”
“Pacquiao and I have one thing in common and that is this
is the fight we have most wanted,” said Barrera. "But Pacquiao
should have been more careful for what he wished for because
he is going to be in the fight of his life. The battle is on
and I am going to leave the ring as boxing’s new No. 1 pound
for pound fighter."
“This fight is what the fans have been asking for and
I’m excited that we will be able to deliver this bout between
these two all-time great champions," said Oscar de la Hoya,
President of Golden Boy Promotions.
"For Manny Pacquiao this is an essential
fight so he can demonstrate, once and for all, that he is the
king of the division," said Bob Arum, CEO, Top Rank.
"Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera are both legendary
fighters and national heroes in their homelands, who
continually seek out the biggest challenges", said HBO
Pay-Per-View's Mark Taffet. "Boxing fans love these matchups
of 'best vs best' and are in for a real treat on October 6."
Dubbed "Republica Enemy No. 1," Pacquiao has blitzed through
the best fighters Mexico had to offer since 2003, including
Morales (KO 3, TKO 10), Barrera (TKO 11), Oscar Larios (W 12),
Emanuel Lucero (TKO 3), Hector Velazquez (TKO 6) and Jorge
Solis (KO 8). The only “blemish” was a draw against Juan
Manuel Marquez in 2004, where Pacquiao sent Marquez to the
canvas three times in the first round.
Pacquiao, was named “2006 Fighter of the Year” by the Boxing
Writers Association of America and The Ring magazine
for his two spectacular knockout victories of Mexican icon and
three-division champion Erik Morales
and his dominating 12-round unanimous decision over former
world champion and current No. 1 contender Oscar
Larios. The hard-hitting southpaw has only lost
once in his last 21 bouts, a close decision in 2005 to Morales
in their first encounter.
The Pacquiao-Morales trilogy produced over one million
pay-per-view sales, a record for the lower weight divisions
proving that Pacquiao is a pay-per-view star. The live
attendance for their rubber match rumble last November
produced a live gate of 18,276, fifth-best on Las Vegas’
all-time list.
Known as the “Baby Faced Assassin.” Barrera has provided
boxing fans with more exciting moments than anyone of his era.
In his own world championship trilogy against Erik Morales,
fought in three different weight divisions, Barrera proved to
be the better man twice. Those fights alone garnered him
numerous accolades from The Ring, including “Fight of
the Year” (2000, 2004), “Round of the Year” (5th in 2000, 11th
in 2004), and “Comeback of the Year” (2004).
Barrera has never avoided a worthy challenge and his resume is
a testament to a future Hall of Fame career. He has defeated
many of the top fighters in his divisions, including current
or former world champions Morales and Naseem Hamed, both
undefeated when he faced them, Robbie Peden, Paulie Ayala,
Kevin Kelley, Johnny Tapia , Enrique Sanchez, Jesus Salud,
Jesse Benavides, Kennedy McKinney, Agapito Sanchez, Frankie
Toledo, Daniel Jimenez, and Eddie Cook. In a streak that
started in December, 2000, with the Salud fight and lasted for
four years, Marco fought nine current or former world
champions in a row.
Barrera made his professional debut in 1989 and won his first
world title in 1995, dethroning WBO jr. featherweight champion
Daniel Jimenez., the beginning of three separate reigns as
that champion. In 2001, he tagged the undefeated IBO
featherweight champion Hamed with his only career loss via a
dominating unanimous decision. One year later, he added
Morales’ WBC featherweight title to his trophy case, avenging
a previous loss while spoiling Morales’ perfect record which
had endured nine years and 42 bouts. Barrera would win the
rubber match in 2004, while claiming Morales’ WBC super
featherweight championship belt.
The Pacquiao vs. Barrera pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9
pm ET/6 pm PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be
produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be
available to more than 61 million pay-per-view homes. The
telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can
receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event
programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your Pacquiao
vs. Barrera fight week updates, log on to
www.hbo.com.
7-31-2007