This time 13 years ago one hell of a brawl broke out. To mark the anniversary we’ve been watching back over the Pacquiao vs Barrera full fight today.
The match took place on November 15th, 2003 at the Alamodome, San Antonio in Texas and in many ways represented the first big break out fight for Manny Pacquiao in the US.
At that time Barrera was the first real big name on Pacquiao’s record and many thought Mexican Barrera was the favouite going into the fight.
Those people and indeed Barrera himself were simply not prepared for the Filipino typhoon that came at him on the night.
Pacquiao was not long after joining forces with Hall of Fame American trainer Freddie Roach at that stage. You could tell his skills were a little cruder back then.
But his raw explosiveness was a sight to behold.
Essentially he was a one handed fighter for the most part, relying on his killer left hand back in those days along with overwhelming his opponent with the sheer quantity of punch output he put on display:
(Hat tip to Pacnation YouTube for the upload – Pacquiao vs Barrera full fight video):
Pacquiao proved too much for the legendary Barrera that night, stopping him inside the distance.
The pair fought again a few years later in 2007 with Barrera going the distance on that occasion but Pacquiao getting the win again.
That time by unanimous decision.
13 years on and Manny Pacquiao has achieved as much as anyone in the sport of boxing, moving through a remarkable amount of weight divisions over the years to capture many different world titles against renowned fighters of the sport.
He is still competing at the top of the game as of 2016 with his most recent win coming via a lob sided unanimous decision win over Jessie Vargas in November 2016 to capture the WBO welterweight world title (full fight report here).
