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MANILA, Philippines – From counterpuncher to attacker.
Deviating from his normal stance, Mark Anthony Barriga intends to bring the fight to Carlos Licona when they tangle for the International Boxing Federation minimumweight crown on Saturday, December 1 (Sunday, December 2, Manila time) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“Si Mark magdala ng laban, unang round pa lang (Mark will dictate the tempo of the fight from the 1st round),” said Joven Jimenez, Barriga’s chief trainer.
The sudden switch was prompted by Barriga’s desire to come up with a breakout performance in the world stage, his 12-round fight with the Mexican-American being in the undercard of the pay-per-view Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury battle for the World Boxing Council heavyweight title.
Jimenez also wants Barriga, a defense specialist in the mold of Floyd Mayweather Jr, to be more exciting by showing his offensive artillery, which they honed in two months of rigid training back at Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite.
Totally dedicated to his workouts and benefitting from a special diet, Barriga breezed through Friday’s official weigh-in, tipping the scales at 103.6 pounds, way inside the 105-lb limit and over 26 pounds off his peak weight.
Licona was no slouch either, checking in at 104.8 pounds.
Though Barriga usually enters the ring between 112 to 114 lbs, Jimenez said he would like the Philippines’ lone boxing bet in the 2012 London Olympics to rehydrate to as high as 115.
The extra weight would mean more sting and power to Barriga’s punches, which has stopped only one of his 9 victims thus far, according to Jimenez.
Barriga promised not to waste the golden opportunity presented to him in just two years as a pro.
“It’s really my dream to become a world champion,” Barriga told Rappler in an earlier interview. “Not everybody is given this chance.”
Other than personal glory and bringing honor to his country, Barriga, dubbed Da Baby Boy for his 5-foot-2 height and youthful looks at 25, is motivated by his desire to provide medical treatment to his parents, his mother with a heart ailment and his father with cysts on the jaw.
Installed as slight favorite to beat the 23-year-old Licona, also unscathed in 13 fights with 2 knockouts, Barriga is expected to exploit his hand speed, stamina, ring smarts and pinpoint shots to topple the 5-foot-4 ward of Robert Garcia.
While Garcia acknowledged Barriga’s skills, the 2012 trainer of the year, said Licona, who emulates Juan Manuel Marquez, is prepared for whatever the southpaw from Panabo City will bring into the ring.
Jimenez will be joined in Barriga’s corner by cutman Todd Makelim, who once fought and lost to Manny Pacquiao, and conditioning trainer Delfin Boholst, a many time Philippine team amateur member.
Among the onlookers at ringside would be IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, Barriga’s boyhood buddy and co-manager with Jimenez, and multiple Filipino world champion Nonito Donaire Jr, who advised Barriga to believe in himself and think as if he’s already the champion after the weigh-in at Los Angeles Convention Center.
Completing Team Barriga here are international matchmaker Sean Gibbons and his son Brendan, Barriga’s cousin and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympian Charly Suarez, and Mark Lontayao.
After his failed Olympics bid, Barriga is determined to succeed this time and join the ranks of Pacquiao, Donaire, Ancajas, WBO minimumweight titlist Vic Saludar, WBA interim featherweight champion Jhack Tepora and IBO bantamweight king Michael Dasmariñas. – Rappler.com
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