Barrera speaks out!
By Francisco Salazar
6/14/2002
Fightnews.com top rated featherweight Marco Antonio Barrera spoke today from his training camp in Big Bear, CA and discussed candidly his rematch with WBC featherweight champion Erik Morales and other intangibles.
On his insistance for a rematch:
I wanted this rematch because the boxing fans wanted this fight to take place. I would hear about when this fight would occur and that is why I wanted this rematch. For the fans.
On the rivalry between Mexico City and Tijuana:
(Barrera is from Mexico City, Morales is from Tijuana)
From my point of view, there is no rivalry. Erik was the one who created the rivalry. He was the one who first spoke negatively about me from the beginning.
On Fernando Beltran's (manager of Erik Morales) comments reported earlier on fightnews about low blows and excess use of vasoline by Barrera:
I do not know what fight he saw. When Erik butted me in the first fight, we did not protest. We knew it was an accident. If he thought these things occurred, so be it. He wants to find ways to cause problems.
On the scuffle that occurred at a press conference in Texas:
"He would make comments about me in the press in Mexico. He would call me 'Mariquita' (sissy). When I saw him in person, I asked him why he was not talking like he did on TV or the papers. He said something to me, then I hit him. I did not him that hard."
from fightnews.com
