By Hermie Rivera 
 
OK, Marco Antonio Barrera, stubbornly inflexible for 12 rounds gave Manny Pacquiao a  surprise when he lasted the distance before a roaring Las Vegas crowd at Mandalay’s resort/casino.
 
 
But the bigger surprise was Manny’s inventive switch from compulsive punching to bonny boxing — an ingenius game plan that frustrated Marco despite Pacquiao’s lack of committed ferocity in the well-applauded rematch.
 
Pacman’s previous knockout wins has left an impact on his fans who have come to expect it in all of his fights.
 
Asked why he deviated from his usual norm, Gensan’s slugger fired back rather quizically; “You don’t want your ass kicked by an old man do you?”
 
Fittingly, Pacquiao’s innovative conquest of Barrera closed the book on one of Mexico’s  legends — a masterstroke unlikely to be equalled by a Filipino in the next century or so.
 
John Whisler of the San Antonio Express earlier wrote that a Pacquiao victory  was  certain since the Philippines’ finest ringman is just “too young, too explosive and too dynamic.”.
 
 
HBO’s Jim Lampley was more emphatic: The Filipino boxing idol is just “too fast, too strong and too good.”
 
 
But Pacquiao’s latest coup has posed problems in his weight class.
 
 
Manny has dominated the jr. lightweight division thoroughly that a move to the lightweight rung looks imminent.
 
 
Categorized at times as super-featherweight, the 130 pound rating was created for fighters who find it too wide to bridge the gap between featherweight (126 lbs.) and lightweight (135 lbs.).
 
 
Since tightening his grip on this weight innovation, the 28 year old phenomenon is being lured to move up for big money fights against WBC lightweight boss David Diaz or unbeaten Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz, an aggresive, hard-hitting Mexican who could pull in the crowd for a huge payday..
 
 
 
There is also an on-going scuffle among the other aspirants in both weight allocations to earn a bunchful of mint.
 
Now, who is likely to have the first crack at Pacquiao’s tower of fortune?
 
While Juan Manuel Marquez was almost stopped by the General Santos city rougher en route to a debatable draw, he remained unbeaten in his last six fights to include his (oops) pilferage of Marco Barrera’s crown at the MGM grand.
 
Deserving?
 
Not quite.
 
The knock on Marquez is that he’s unexciting. Whether this is an accurate reflection of his style or not will be known only if he gets picked as Pacquiao’s prime opponent.
 
 
Promoter Bob Arum has given Manny the authority to negotiate all that’s needed with his next archenemy.
 
 
Cool!
 
 
Magkano? (How much?)