BARRERA TO MAKE AD PITCH IN THE PHILIPPINES By Allaine Ramos This content is protected LOS ANGELES -- Following the runaway hit of Erik Morales' San Miguel Beer commercial with Manny Pacquiao, another Mexican ring legend is poised to take a crack at the Philippines' fertile advertising market -- Marco Antonio Barrera, aka the Baby-Faced Assasin. Tony Rivera, Barrera's cutman, told this reporter early this week during a lull in the press conference which formally announced the staging of Pacquiao's much-antipicated rematch with the explosive Juan Manuel Marquez this March 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. "It's a done deal," Rivera says of Barrera's upcoming foray into the Philippine advertising world through a giant Pinoy corporation. "We're just waiting for the paperwork," Rivera added. But for Filipinos to find out whether Barrera packs marketing appeal in front of the discerning TV camera, they'd have to wait at least for a while. Barrera's commercial shoot with Pacquiao is penciled late this March, after Pacman-Marquez II. A future Hall-of Famer and one of the best fighters of his generation, Barrera, 34, flaunts a 63-6 won-lost slate with 42 KOs. His career has been slightly defined by two epic encounters with Pacquiao, which were both losses; a TKO in 2003 and by unanimous decision last October 6, 2007. There is, however, life after boxing for Barrera. Although he is eyeing a comeback, Barrera is currently a partner in the Golden Boy Promotions empire, which figures to smoothen his transition from the brutal squared jungled to the more civil corporate world. The Guadalajara native is looking at the notion of investing in the Philippines, where he plans to erect gyms in hopes of discovering perhaps another diamond in the rough, much like Pacquiao was before he burst in the international limelight with his sensational conquest over Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001. "Barrera likes Filipino fighters, their style and commitment to win," Rivera said. So there will be a Pacquiao-Barrera III after all. Only this one will be fought in friendlier terms. They'll be swapping smiles, not left hooks. But what company and which product will these two icons sell? You'll just have to wait.
