Shift to Dela Hoya outfit seals Barrera rematch?

A crack at Marco Antonio Barrera next year even if he loses to Erik Morales this November.

According to a local boxing expert, Manny Pacquiao could have found this offer so hard to refuse, leaving the Filipino boxer no better choice but to strike a deal with Oscar dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

Whether it’s a fact or a theory, this stands as a very good reason why Pacquiao reportedly agreed to a seven-fight promotional contract with Golden Boy when there are other offers coming in.

Barrera is one of the prized fighters under Golden Boy Promotions, so it wouldn’t be hard to pit the reigning WBC 130 lb champion and Pacquiao regardless of what happens in November.

Pacquiao and Morales square off on Nov. 18 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. It will be the third and final showdown between the two fighters who split their first two matches.

Pacquiao lost a 12-round decision to Morales when they first met in March last year but bounced back with a sensational 10th round knockout of the Mexican last January.

Pacquiao, this early, is considered as the favorite for their third showdown. His millions of fans are hoping for another big win, and hopefully a crack at Barrera whom Pacquiao knocked out in 2003.

Morales is under Top Rank Promotions headed by the highly-influential Bob Arum. Top Rank has also shown interest in Pacquiao who becomes a free agent by the end of the year.

Don King has also shown great interest in promoting Pacquiao.

But Golden Boy, according to reports coming in from Los Angeles, already has a lock on Pacquiao, probably the most explosive, most exciting fighter in the world today.

The seven-fight contract was reportedly signed during a "secret dinner" between Dela Hoya and Pacquiao shortly after the latter arrived in LA last Monday to start training for Morales.

Pacquiao neither confirmed nor denied the move, saying he would rather concentrate on his training for his coming fight where he is guaranteed $3 million, his biggest paycheck ever.

A Pinoy boxing scribe who followed Pacquiao’s moves in LA over the past week reported the other day that details of the Golden Boy contract will be divulged soon.

It was also reported that Pacquiao, at 27 a couple of years younger than Morales and Barrera, "was rewarded" with a signing bonus of at least $300,000.

"I will not make any further comments about this because all I want right now is to focus on this fight. All I want is to concentrate on my training and I do not want distractions at this time," said Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has been in LA for a week now, training hard at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. He’ll be there for eight weeks before pushing for Vegas probably three or four days before the fight.