BARRERA'S LASTING IMPRESSIONS.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES

BOXING

It's no surprise that the final two fights of Marco Antonio Barrera's career could be among his toughest.

Barrera will put his World Boxing Council super featherweight belt on the line against Juan Manuel Marquez tonight at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Marquez is one of the terrific featherweights of this era.

If all goes well for Barrera, he then would be looking to take on Manny Pacquiao in a rematch of their fight in November 2003, won by Pacquiao via 11th-round technical knockout.

The Mexican legend would then say bye-bye to boxing after a spectacular career that began in Mexico City in 1989 at age 15.

"He has told us he wants to go out with a bang," said Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Oscar DeLa Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Barrera. "He says, 'Look, I could have fought a couple of bums and retired. But I want to create some excitement for boxing."'

Barrera said it goes deeper than that.

"It's very important for me, for the fans to remember me as the fighter that I was, fighting the top fighters and giving them the great fights and not be remembered as a fighter that ended his career fighting dead fighters," he said.

Barrera and Marquez are both 33. But even though he has accomplished more than Marquez, Barrera has had to endure much more.

Marquez (46-3-1, 35 KOs) has been in tough fights, but he has never been stopped inside the distance in 50 bouts.

Barrera (63-4, 42 KOs, one no contest) has been a pro four years longer than Marquez, and has 68 fights. Of his four defeats, he was stopped by Pacquiao and would have been stopped by Junior Jones in their first fight in November 1996, but Barrera was disqualified when one of his cornermen stepped inside the ring during a fifth round in which Barrera was being pummeled.

That's not to mention the three slugfests against rival Erik Morales, two of which Barrera won.

In other words, there are more than a few experts who believe that Barrera won't even get to Pacquiao because he'll lose to a fresher Marquez.

"Very brave on his behalf," Marquez said of Barrera taking him on. "He showed a lot of courage there."

It's about legacy. One that puts Barrera in the upper echelon of a long line of great fighters from Mexico. When you think of who some of them are, you come up with Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, or Ruben Olivares. To many, Barrera belongs right there with them.

"Well, I've accomplished much, much more than I ever dreamed of," Barrera said. "That's why I'm so grateful to boxing. It's given me much more than I ever thought it would. I wanted to become a world champion. I became a world champion in three (weight) divisions, something I never dreamed of.

"That is why, at my 33 years of age, I feel very well, very good. That is why I want to exit and find the right door, the big door, to go out of boxing on top."

Finishing with victories over Marquez and Pacquiao would accomplish that. Interestingly, Barrera doesn't believe that defeating Marquez would enhance his legacy.

"A victory over Juan Manuel would not bring anymore significance to what has been accomplished at this point," Barrera said. "It won't make or change anything. Originally, it was stated I would be fighting Manny Pacquiao. He had legal problems, he came off the card.

"Juan Manuel was offered. It's a great fight and that's why we took it. But it will not make any difference in what has been done in my career."

Avenging his defeat to Pacquiao might be another story, however.

"Ever since the first fight, I've asked Oscar for a second fight, a rematch," Barrera said. "I am one of those typical Mexicans that is very stubborn. We don't learn with the first one. We need the second one. And until that happens, we won't know if that will alter the career of Marco Antonio Barrera or not. Until that day comes."

Pacquiao recently signed promotional contracts with both Golden Boy and rival promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc. The respective companies are suing each other over Pacquiao's rights, which is why the rematch with Barrera was taken off the table.

But Gomez said that if there is a will by both parties to make the fight, there is a way, regardless of the outcome of litigation.

Tonight's fight will be available on HBO pay-per-view for $44.95.

Expect the slugger to reappear

For the first 10-plus years of his sparkling career, there was never any doubt as to how Marco Antonio Barrera was going to approach a fight -- with the intent of knocking out his opponent.

That changed after his first fight with Erik Morales in February 2000. The epic bout was a toe-to-toe slugfest from start to finish with both fighters getting badly beaten.

Since losing a split decision in that fight, Barrera has gone about trying to become more of a technician. He never came right outand said it, but it was obvious that he knew his career would not last much longer ifhe continued to get into knockdown, dragout brawls.

He has fared well in 15 fights since that barnburner with Morales, going 14-1, two ofthose victories coming over Morales. But only six of those wins came by knockout. Moreover, Barrera was blasted by reporters for sticking and moving in his second of two victories over Rocky Juarez last September.

Thus, Barrera said last week he will be back to the Barrera of old when he defends his World Boxing Council super featherweight belt against Juan Manuel Marquez tonight at Mandalay Bay in LasVegas.

"We tried to learn to box, we tried to learn to be effective, but it didn't work," Barrera said. "So we're going to have to go back to our roots and bring out the Marco that you've all known from the beginning because we weren't able to learn the boxing technique as well as we wanted."

He learned, all right, that when you are a slugger most of your career, turning into a stick-and-mover doesn't cut it with the fans, who were not happy with that aforementioned fight with Juarez.

Barrera (63-4, 42 KOs), a former featherweight champion, has been at super featherweight his past five fights. Marquez (46-3-1, 35 KOs) has been a featherweight his entire 14-year career and will be in his first super featherweight bout.

"I feel I am going to be stronger at 130pounds," Marquez said of the super featherweight limit. "I feel I have more speed than I did before. Marco is very tough and skilled. He is one of the best at 130 pounds. It is going to be a tough fight for me."

Marquez pointed out that the move up to super featherweight is only a four-pound jump.

"I have sparred with guys who are bigger, and fought guys who are bigger," he said. "It's not going to be a problem."

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Marco Antonio Barrera, left, faces off with Juan Manuel Marquez during weigh-ins for their fight tonight in Las Vegas.

(2) Marco Antonio Barrera weighs in at 130 pounds Friday at Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

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