Pacquiao in Barrera "Hit List"
By Dennis Principe
02.02 - UNIVERSALLY-recognized featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera is in the final stages of choosing his April 12 HBO pay-per-view opponent and that opponent may turn out to be IBF world superbantamweight champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines.
The Barrera camp has reportedly trimmed down its list to three fighters namely WBC superbantamweight king Oscar Larios, WBA featherweight boss Derrick Gainer and Pacquiao
Among the three, the southpaw Gainer has been very vocal about coveting the fight which he described as the only fight for me out there right now.
Gainers adviser Lou DiBella has made a number of press releases stating that they are not going to price themselves out even if it means being stripped of the WBA belt just to get the Barrera fight.
Gainer is mandated to defend his title against top contender Daniel Seda of Puerto Rico.
Larios, a fast rising pound-for-pound contender is said to have the inside track but is also in a dilemma whether to accept a Barrera fight or a juicy offer from Japan where he will be defending his title against former WBA world champion Osamu Sato.
Pacquiaos business manager Rod Nazario has been very cautious about giving any details regarding the possibility of having his boxer as Barreras next foe.
But a source revealed that Nazario has received a $500,000 offer from the Barrera camp for the April 12 match.
There were initial plans to pit Pacquiao against Gainer but the said plan eventually fizzled out after both camps were not able to reach a deal concerning the boxers purse.
Pacquiao is currently in his hometown in General Santos City (South of the Philippines) where he is busy preparing for his his 10-round non-title fight versus Kazakhstan champion Serik Yeshmangbetov on March 8 at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque City.
Yeshmangbetov had two unsuccessful attempts at the PABA regional title, losing to Soleh Sundava of Indonesia (TKO 7) and to Chamuakpetch Haphalung (decision) of Thailand.
The 29 year old Yeshmangbetov has won his last two fights in compiling an overall record of 15 wins, 3 losses with 10 kayoes.
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