Round 9: Pacquiao starts to take charge

Manny Pacquiao dominated the ninth round, landing several punches on challenger Marco Antonio Barrera, though keeping a slower, steadier pace than the frenzied first six rounds of their rematch. At the start of the seventh, the opponents, as if by taci signal, went into a slower mode of fighting, with neither making any significant damage to the other. In the sixth round, Pacquiao zeroed in on Barrera's body as he cornered his challenger. With less than 30 seconds left in the round, Pacquiao unleashed a flurry of punches that pushed Barrera back against the ropes. It seemed to be the Pacman's revenge for having suffered several telling punches on the face in the fifth round. Four years have obviously not dulled the fire Barrera has been keeping alive against Pacquiao, who humbled him via technical knockout in the 11th of their 12-round bout on Nov. 15, 2003. At stake in the match is Pacquiao's WBC International super featherweight title. As in the third round, the fourth round of their much-awaited rematch saw them focusing their most of their jabs on each other's face. The rematch is ongoing Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The second round started with a quick and frequent exchange of probing jabs between Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera – and ended with the Mexican landing a jab in the Pacman's face. The opponents, wearing shorts of almost the same shade of red, started the first round of their much awaited rematch slowly as they sized up each other. But the speeded up the action a bit in the last minute. Shortly before this rematch, both fighters weighed in at 130 pounds, but both were heavier by the time they climbed into the ring – Pacquiao at 144 pounds and Barrera at 138 pounds. Among the fellow pugilists who went to see the fight were Oscar de la Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard. Judging the fight are Jerry Roth, Glenn Trowbridge, Tom Schreck, with Tony Weeks as referee. The Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas was like an almost empty warehouse in the early undercard matches of "Will to Win." But by 8:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. in Manila) had filled up with boxing spectators, chanting the names of either Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines or Marco Antonio Barrera. Three national anthems were sung – the Mexican, the Filipino, and the American – as the opponents wait tensely in their locker rooms. Inez Zak sang the "Himno Nacional Mexicano," Kyla "Lupang Hinirang," and Cynthia Minx "The Star-Spangled Banner." - GMANews.TV