Entertainment

Pacquiao beats Barrera by unanimous decision-Part 1 Oct. 6, 2007

We left Los Angeles 7 am, the road trip was smooth with very little traffic. The weather was a little gloomy but was showing signs of clearing up. We stopped at Primm, Nevada to load gas and a trip to the restroom. It’s been years since my last trip to Las Vegas. Primm has developed a lot now being a point of interest on your way to Las Vegas. Ah…maybe second to shopping at Barstow.

There is this road noise you hear when you’re close to Las Vegas. The first time I heard it I thought something came off the car and was dragging along the freeway. I guess this is because of the grooves engraved on the freeway against the usual flow of traffic, causing the tires to emit a high pitch sound. Was this deliberately done to wake you up and announce, you are now approaching The Sin City?

At The Mandalay Bay, there were a lot of posters advertising the fight, but nothing beats this huge door mat, it is so amazing! After checking in I was able to get my media credential with no hassle and got a chance to see Sugar Ray Leonard in person picking up his media credential too.

In a none-title fight, Marco Antonio Barrera fought Manny Pacquiao at 130 pounds which is super featherweight. The odds makers, initially installed Pacquiao as -350 favorite, meaning a $350 bet wins $100. At the weigh in Pacquiao was -260 and Barrera at +220 meaning that a $100 bet on him will bring a $220 return. In the betting circle no doubt about it Pacquiao is said to be the clear favorite to win. So now the betting is whether or when will Barrera go down. The weigh in Press Conference was open to the public so there were cheering on both sides of the camp.

When Manny weighed in he looked tired, haggard and had a serious face. We all noticed it and we were worried that this might affect his performance. Coming in he had to loose 3 pounds in a hurry, but on fight night he came in at 144 pounds. Just imagine what these fighters have to go through couple of days before the fight. As you can see in the photo he was so careful not to even raise his arms so as not to disturb the scale and read over the weight limit.

Bernard Hopkins, Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera

This is a clip of Zeny Melencio with friends that she meet there. Zeny came from Washington with a $600 ticket purchased by her son.

These European friends were rooting for both fighters, some like Pacquiao or Barrera and some like Pacquiao but wanted Barrera to win with thousand dollar bets.

These Filipinos came all the way from New York just to watch their Hero.

The Dechavez family are all solid Pacman fans. Mrs. Dechavez was celebrating her Birthday the night I interviewed them. Happy birthday again Mrs Dechavez. To the Dechavez Family, thank you for your hospitality in welcoming us in your home.

I had the chance to meet Kaila after her rehearsal. She arrived with Ms. Marivin Arayata Vice President Entertainment GMA7 Kapuso Network. Considering they arrived a day before the fight, Kaila aced her rendition of the Philippine National Anthem in her rehearsal.

This clip shows the number of people needed to prepare for this big boxing event.

Read Part 2 here

xxx

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