17.10.03 – Veteran Boxer Marco Antonio Barrera has reigned over the featherweights for years, dismissing all challengers to his crown. IBF junior featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao has cleaned out the 122-pound division in a similar fashion and is looking to do the same at 126 pounds. On November 15, from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, these two will collide in an epic battle to determine who is truly the best featherweight in the world.
“This is a fight I wanted, not only for myself, but for my fans,” said Barrera. “They know I have always proven myself against the best fighters in the world, and I consider Manny Pacquiao to be in that category. I look forward to retaining my title as the top featherweight in the world on November 15.”
Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions and Barrera’s promoter, adds, “I couldn’t think of a better fight to kick off our relationship with Marco Antonio Barrera. It’s going to be a war, a true clash of styles between Barrera, a boxer-puncher, and Pacquiao, a knockout artist. Plus, having fought in the Alamodome, and knowing how the San Antonio fans support the sport, I couldn’t think of a better place to bring a fight of this magnitude.”
Barrera-Pacquiao, a 12 round bout for the featherweight championship of the world, will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. The site of the event, the Alamodome, has a storied boxing history, having hosted the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Jesse James Leija, Azumah Nelson, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Pernell Whitaker. In fact, the Chavez-Whitaker bout in 1993 brought in 78,000 fans, still the record for the largest indoor boxing audience in history.
In the November 15 co-feature, part of an exciting night of boxing presented by Golden Boy Promotions, former world champion and current junior welterweight contender Jesse James Leija (44-6-2, 18 KOs), a proud native of San Antonio, will take on Fernando Mena (18-4) from Durango, Mexico in a bout scheduled for ten rounds.
Mexico City’s Barrera, regarded as the top featherweight in boxing today, has compiled a 57-3 (40 KOs) record in his storied 14-year career. Among the fighters he has defeated are world champions Erik Morales, Johnny Tapia, Naseem Hamed, Jesus Salud, and Kennedy McKinney. In his last bout, on April 12, he stopped another former world champion, Kevin Kelley, in four rounds.
On November 15, “The Baby Faced Assassin”, 29, will bring a three-year winning streak into the ring with him.
Pacquiao, 24, a native of General Santos City in The Philippines, comes into the Alamodome ring with a 37-2-1 (29 KOs) record. The current IBF super bantamweight champion, “The Pacman” roared on the world scene in June of 2001, when he destroyed highly regarded Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in six rounds to win the title, which he has defended four times. In his most recent bout, on July 26, the power punching Pacquiao dispatched of Mexican contender Emmanuel Lucero in just three rounds.
Following the wish of Marco Antonio Barrera, to make the fight affordable for all his fans, the tickets have been priced very attractively. In fact, 14,000 of the tickets are priced between $25. – to $75. – For a world championship fight of this caliber it is unheard of.
Tickets for Barrera-Pacquiao, priced at $25.-,$35.-, $50.-, $75.-, $150.- and $300.-, go on sale October 16th at the Alamodome box office, or by calling (210) 224-9600. You may also purchase tickets online at www.ticketmaster.com or at Ticket master outlets.
ABOUT GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS
As one of the sport’s most active promoters, Golden Boy Promotions has over 40 shows scheduled in 2003, with many to be televised on networks such as HBO Latino, Telefutura, and ESPN. The Golden Boy Promotions team of fighters is comprised of some of the top competitors in the world, as well as a group of rising stars who will keep boxing fans enthralled for years to come. They include: featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera, WBC super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios, WBC #1 ranked lightweight Juan Lazcano, former world champion and current junior welterweight contender Jesse James Leija, WBC and WBO #4 ranked super bantamweight Israel Vazquez, WBO #2 ranked super lightweight sensation Kelson Pinto, WBC youth lightweight champ ‘Mighty’ Mike Anchondo (world ranked by the WBC, WBA, and WBO), NABO super flyweight champion Jose Navarro (ranked #5 by the WBO, #7 by the WBA, and #11 by the WBC), #15 WBC ranked junior welterweight Juan Valenzuela, WBO #10 ranked bantamweight Carlos Madrigal, WBC youth super middleweight champ Enrique Andrade (ranked #14 by the WBO), unbeaten Librado Andrade, and, undefeated two-time Argentine Olympian Guillermo Saputo.