15.11.03 – By Carlos Kalinchuk: This afternoon at the Sunset Station in San Antonio Texas, as part of the “Clash of The Titans” fight card promoted by Oscar DelaHoya, all of Saturday’s combatants participated in an open to the public weigh in. Although there were many fans on hand, the afternoon didn’t really get started until emcee Steven Engelbrecht introduced HBO’s Michael Buffer to the stage. Buffer went on to introduce Oscar DelaHoya and then followed it up with the introductions of main event fighters Manny Pacquiao 37-2-1 and Marco Antonio Barrera 57-3. Each fighter was flanked by his entourage and corner men. Marco weighed in first at 126 lbs even and Manny Pacquiao weighed in at an even 125 lbs. After Pacquiao weighed in he flexed his muscles for the crowd. A subtle gasp came out of some in the crowd when they saw the shape Pacquiao was in. He was extremely cut and ripped and the striations of his muscles could be seen from afar. Both fighters posed for the traditional pose and the shook hands and went their separate ways. Barrera and his trainer Rudy Perez selected his gloves for the fight and Freddie Roach selected Pacquiao’s gloves for the fight. Both camps agreed to use Cleto Reyes gloves. Reyes gloves are said to be a punchers glove. Although we won’t know until tomorrow, If the glove manufacturer is any indication that this fight could be an all out war, we’re in for a great fight!
The next fighters that were introduced were “Jesse” James Leija 44-6-2 and Fernando Mena 17-6-1. James weighed in at 142 ½ lbs and Mena weighed in at 142 ¾. Both looked to be in great shape.
Lightweights Roque Cassiani 21-14-2 and Miguel Huerta 17-6 (12 KO’s) were also added to the card. Cassiani weighed in at 135 lbs and Huerta weighed in at 134 lbs.
Gabriel Elizondo 12-0 and his opponent Juan Soto 9-4 agreed to 116 ¾ lbs when Elizondo came in 1lb and ¼ overweight and when Soto weighed in at 116 ¾ lbs. Their fight was scheduled to be fought at 115 lbs.
Miguel Martin weighed in at 167 ¾ lbs. His opponent Sebastian Hill 8-5 weighed in overweight at 174 lbs. The head of the Texas Boxing Commission Dickie Cole gave him 2 hours to make weight. He weighed 2 hours later at 172 lbs even.
Undefeated Americo Santos 12-0 and Rudy Lundsford 12-25 weighed in at the agreed upon lightweight limit.
Oscar Andrade 33-22-1 and Julio Zarate weighed in at the Super Flyweight Limit.
The only female match of the night had to be cancelled when an opponent for Maribel Zurita 5-4-1 could not be found.
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer & Photographer