De La Hoya: Barrera to give Pacquiao a tough fight

Oscar de la Hoya expects Marco Antonio Barrera to give Manny Pacquiao a real challenge when the boxers meet in a rematch on October 6 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. "I expect a big surprise from Barrera," said De La Hoya, who is co-promoting Pacquiao in this fight with Bob Arum. "When people count him out, he always comes back and wins and wins impressively. So I think Barrera is going to pull out a surprising victory," De La Hoya, the Golden Boy Promotions top honcho, said in a report posted on CBS' sportsline.com. "He's been waiting for this fight since they fought and it's been many years. I can understand the problems he had when he faced Pacquiao the first time. They were real distractions and you lose focus. I think this time around, he's going to be much better. We all know that when he trains and he's focused, he's the best 130-pounder out there," De La Hoya added. Barrera lost his focus during training before his match with Pacquiao on Nov. 15, 2003. At the time, Barrera was addressing managerial problems and was forced to leave his training camp. In that fight, Pacquiao sent Barrera to the canvass in the 11th round. That victory catapulted Pacquiao to boxing stardom. And now, even Arum, the head of Top Rank, believes that Barrera can provide a real fight against Pacquiao, who has started his training for the rematch just recently because of his insistence to train in the Philippines and not at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles. "I think Barrera is really going to be up for the fight and I think that people will be able to see a real battle, toe-to-toe. You know, a great, great fight," Arum said. "I think there's only one winner and that's Pacquiao. But Barrera has always been known to rise to the occasion when he's counted out." Pacquiao is the favorite in the rematch, the report said, but if Pacquiao fails to focus on his training, then Barrera could get his revenge. - GMANews.TV