LAS VEGAS - Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao enters the ring Oct. 6 at Mandalay Bay Hotel here for the much-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico who has threatened to maul him.

Barrera was quoted early as saying that while personal revenge is high on his agenda, he is fighting for Mexico and fellow Mexican fighters who have fallen victim to Pacquiao.

“I am training harder than I ever have. I want to beat Manny so badly I can taste it. This goes beyond being personal. For me this fight is about restoring national pride," Eastside quoted Barrera as saying.

Pacquiao’s chief-of-staff, Jake Joson, said the boxing icon simply laughed off Barrera’s statement, adding there was nothing new in what he said. Barrera’s statement, however, seemed to make Pacquiao more determined to win the rematch. Last month, Pacquiao was still feverishly training at the RWS International Gym in Punta Princesa in Cebu city. According to his Filipino trainer Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao himself admitted that his training was very tough and exhausting, but what matters is the glory he could bring to the country.

“I will try and do my best to win, because this after all is for the country," Pacquiao told reporters, without a trace of being bothered by the reports that he is trying to find a way out of his 12-round fight against Barrera. Trainer Freddie Roach and Pacquiao left for Los Angeles Sept. 22 to prepare for the fight. Roach said Pacquiao is “a better fighter today than when he first fought Barrera and is a better fighter than he was in his last fight, against previously undefeated Jorge Solis, whom he knocked out in the eighth round.

GMA 7 has the exclusive Philippine rights for the rematch against Marco Antonio Barrera and will telecast the fights. “Manny is a great kid,” said Roach, even as he scoffed at rumors saying Pacquiao was “not training and taking this fight lightly, making Barrera the favorite. Maybe we can make some money betting [on Manny]."

Roach actually revealed he bet $1,000 that Pacquiao would win by knockout in their first fight in San Antonio, Texas in November 2003 at odds of 4 to 1 after Pacquiao saw a pool table near the weigh-in area, racked them up and sank five balls on the break.

“With that kind of luck, how can we lose?” said Roach, who promptly placed a bet. Roach said Pacquiao is “a better fighter today than when he first fought Barrera and is a better fighter than he was in his last fight" against previously undefeated Jorge Solis, whom he knocked out in the eighth round.