Football
Sean Stowell 19y

Barrera gambles fighting 'unknown' foe Fana

Just about a year ago, Marco Antonio Barrera's stock was at a low point.

It was thought that he might be at the end of his stellar career, and it was feared that he'd been labeled an "opponent" for up and comers to stomp on as they climbed their way up the rankings.

All of this was being said after an 11th-round TKO loss to Manny Pacquiao. Also around this time, information surfaced about brain surgery Barrera underwent in 1997. Then, in June, he slowly started to rise from the ashes with a 10th-round TKO victory over Paulie Ayala and, in November, just a year after his loss to Pacquiao, he faced his nemesis Erik Morales for the third time, grabbing a stunning majority decision and the WBC super featherweight title.

Suddenly, the "Baby Faced Assassin" was back on top. His crazy roller-coaster ride continues on April 9 when he faces WBC mandatory challenger Mzonke Fana on HBO pay-per-view from the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

After finally reclaiming his spot among the better lighter-weight fighters with a victory over Morales, why would Barrera even waste his time with a relative unknown like Fana?

"I want to defend my title because I deserve it," Barrera said during a national conference call through his interpreter and promoter Oscar De La Hoya. "I've fought hard for this belt and the WBC made him the number one contender for a reason."

De La Hoya was quick to squash any grumblings that this fight will be a walkover for the Mexico City native. De La Hoya brought up his own first fight at middleweight against Felix Sturm as a perfect example.

The former four-division champ came into his contest against the then-unknown German out of shape and listless. De La Hoya struggled to pull out a unanimous decision against an opponent he admits he took lightly.

"I fought Sturm and we all saw what happened there," De La Hoya said. "He [Sturm] is a household name now. I'm confident that the WBC put Fana number one for a reason."

Fana is not widely known outside of his home country of South Africa and is fighting outside of that country for only the second time in 24 career fights, and for the first time in the United States.  Fana is 22-2 with only eight KOs, so he's not really a threat to knock out Barrera. Fana's last fight was in May of last year when he took a split decision over Randy Suico in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Despite Fana's being a relative unknown, Barrera isn't making the same mistake with Fana that his boss did with Sturm. In fact, according to both Barrera and De La Hoya, he spent two extra weeks at De La Hoya's training compound in Big Bear, Calif.

"Because I don't know much about him, this fight is an even bigger threat," Barrera said. "I've been training seven weeks instead of five. I don't know who Fana is, but I do know he is a game opponent."

Barrera said he has been studying a tape of Fana's fight with Suico. He said Fana is fast and mobile and because of his opponent's adroitness, Barrera plans on weighing in just under the 130-pound limit, around 128 so that he can sustain as much speed as possible.

Barrera's time with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has had its share of ups and downs.

His first fight with the company was the Pacquiao debacle, when the sinewy Filipino bashed him around the ring, dropping the former featherweight champion in the third and 11th rounds, forcing Barrera's trainer, Rudy Perez, to step onto the ring apron to get the referee to call a halt to the bout.

Barrera's victory over Morales was definitely a turning point for Barrera and GBP, as it signified the official split between De La Hoya and his former promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank, who promotes Morales.

The glee De La Hoya felt was obviously for Barrera, but it would be impossible for him to hide the satisfaction in getting one over on the man who not only made him rich, but who was a rival as well.

"I was the happiest guy in the room when Marco won," De La Hoya stated diplomatically. "I was thrilled he beat Morales. Not just as a promoter but as a friend."

With all the twists and turns a boxer's career can take, Barrera finds himself on the upswing again thanks to his old foe Morales. While the smart money is that he'll take a rematch with Pacquiao or a fourth go-around with Morales, Barrera won't divulge future plans until after the Fana bout.

"I don't talk about the future," Barrera said. "After my victory over Fana, I'll discuss what's next."

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