LOS ANGELES -- Down a residential street a few miles from the hype of fight week in downtown Los Angeles, the thwacks of boxing gloves hitting leather mitts cuts through the quiet. There's no boxing gym here, but the team of Mark Anthony Barriga has elected to set up the final stage of their training camp at a rented Airbnb instead of the hotels where the fighters associated with the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury pay-per-view card are billeted.
The four bedroom house runs $150 a night and allows them the freedom to cook their own meals according to a nutritionist's instructions. The only times Barriga has gone out since arriving from the Philippines last Friday was when he obtained his pre-fight medical clearance, and his 25-minute jogs down Olympic Boulevard, named when the city hosted the 1932 Games -- 80 years before Barriga would represent his own country at the London Olympiad.
With a cellphone timer as a guide, Barriga circles the small living room area like it was a ring, working on moves he'll likely use Saturday when he faces Mexican-American contender Carlos Licona for the vacant IBF strawweight title.
Barriga-Licona: Little men get big opportunity on #WilderFury card https://t.co/dY8HkkAbCD @ryansongalia @mannypacquiao pic.twitter.com/fJQ9kmu6uN
— Bible of Boxing (@ringmagazine) November 28, 2018
There is no irony in Barriga's nickname. "Da Baby Boy" is an apt moniker for the 5-foot-2, 105 pound fighter. Barriga (9-0, 1 knockout) is one of the smallest professional boxers in the world and has a face as unmarked as the day he was born.
Seeing him seated during downtime playing Call of Duty on his cellphone with his baseball hat on backwards, he looks younger than 25. But his youthful appearance belies his athletic confidence.
"There's no reason for me to second guess myself. I just have to think about all the experiences I've had before, all the injuries and problems I had to go through until I reached this title fight," said Barriga.
Barriga is a decorated amateur fighter and has weaved and countered his way to becoming the number one contender in his weight class just two years after turning pro.
The championship bout at Staples Center is the latest battleground in a never-ending fight for respect.
Growing up in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, Philippines, Barriga's size made him a prime target for bullies. Bigger kids from around his neighborhood would slap his head, daring him to show how tough he was.
"My classmates, my neighbors, they always said 'you're too small, why you want to become a boxer? You won't win because you're small,'" Barriga said. "I always put in my mind that the people who said that, someday I will become famous, and you'll know me in my sport. Someday I'll become a good boxer. You'll see me in the TV."
Barriga at age 18 made his mark on international amateur boxing with an upset over Northern Ireland's Paddy Barnes, then the reigning Olympic bronze medalist, at the 2011 AIBA World Championships in Azerbaijan. The win earned him an even tougher assignment the following day against Zou Shiming, an Olympic gold medalist. Though Barriga fell short on points, he was able to clinch a spot in the London Games. And by then, his former bullies were watching.
"They messaged me, they said congrats," said Barriga.
In London, Manuel Cappai did his best to bully Barriga in the opening moments of their bout, throwing Barriga around in an attempt to intimidate. Barriga's sudden counterpunching triggered a standing eight count. Barriga weaved his way to a 17-7 win as Cappai struggled to put a glove on him.
Barriga lost his second fight by one-point to the following year's world champion Birzhan Zhakypov after the ref deducted a point from him in the third round.
But Barriga's star was on the rise, even if he didn't earn a medal.
He won a gold medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, and took bronze at the 2014 Asian Games. He also spent time in Italy, competing for the Italia Thunder in AIBA's semi-professional World Series of Boxing.
With the money he earned from boxing and three years in the Philippine Air Force, Barriga built a house for his parents and retired his father, telling him he could quit his job operating a machine at a banana plantation.
Barriga figured to be a lock to return to the Olympics in 2016, with his experience and maturity an asset to take with him to Rio de Janeiro. But a knuckle injury sidelined him.
Rather than get back in line and wait another four years, Barriga made a rare decision among top amateurs in the Philippines, one that hadn't been done by an Olympian since the beginning of the century. He turned pro.
That meant leaving the safety net of his monthly stipend from the Air Force and the national team.
"All of that I sacrificed, because I believe in myself and I trust in my talent that I will become a champion. That's why I turned professional, and only God will guide me in this career," Barriga said.
Among those who accompanied Barriga to Los Angeles are his trainer and co-manager Joven Jimenez, plus co-manager and current IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas.
Ancajas and Barriga have come a long way together. Ancajas was one of the kids in the neighborhood who would push Barriga around. The two boxed together on the Barangay Una team. They were on the same Davao province team in 2008 at the Palarong Pambansa, each winning a gold medal.
When Ancajas was in Fresno defending his title against Jonas Sultan in May, Barriga would administer water in the gym and hand wash his laundry in the sink.
When Barriga traveled to China to face Wittawas Basapean in September of 2017, Ancajas was on luggage duty so Barriga could rest after the unanimous decision win. Ancajas even carried the spit bucket for Barriga in his corner.
"We are a team so whatever we can help Mark with, especially since this fight is very important," said Ancajas.
Barriga will bring to Saturday's fight a blend of styles borrowed from fighters he admires: the lead left hand of Manny Pacquiao, the shoulder roll defense of Floyd Mayweather, the way he'll step behind opponents out of clinches like Vasyl Lomachenko.
If the nickname "Da Baby Boy" is fitting, so too is the one that has followed Barriga on social media: "Filipino Mayweather."
"I will respect that if they call me Filipino Floyd. It's just a name," said Barriga.
Like Mayweather, Barriga's defense is multi-layered, consisting of head and upper body movement, foot movement, shoulder-rolling, and old-fashioned keeping the hands up.
While Barriga has mastered the art of being virtually invisible in front of opponents, one thing that remains underwhelming about his arsenal is his lack of punching power. Barriga has just one stoppage in his nine wins, which would be more concerning if he competed in a higher weight class. At 105 pounds, there are few punchers, and even Licona has just two knockouts in his 13 wins against zero defeats.
Still, it's something Barriga is intent on improving on, to the extent that power can be developed in the gym.
"We all know I can throw a punch, I can counter easier, I can fight fast, but I don't have power. In the gym we train the power punching but I know that the knockout is coming. If you have timing, maybe your opponent will be knocked out," said Barriga.
Trainer Jimenez believes the 25-year-old is still maturing physically.
"Mark has power but the way he is fighting and our strategy is like Floyd, not to be hit," Jimenez said.
Barriga doesn't watch video of his opponents. He says it can create a false impression of what to expect, and prefers to just focus on preparing himself physically and mentally for any strategy. Diversity in approach is something he had to foster in the amateurs, when he'd face multiple opponents in a one-week tournament, some with styles as contrasting as could be from the opponent the day before.
Licona, 23, of nearby Westminster, California, turned pro in 2014 in Mexico and shot up the rankings in April with his win over former title challenger Janiel Rivera in Puerto Rico. Licona has been trained by Robert Garcia, the 2012 Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year awardee, at his Riverside compound for the past five fights. Licona has worked to cultivate a style similar to Juan Manuel Marquez, his father's favorite boxer, but has become more aggressive under Garcia to win over judges.
It's no coincidence that the fight finds itself on the undercard of a Showtime pay-per-view card, headlined by one of Premier Boxing Champions' biggest attractions, shortly after Pacquiao signed with the king-making advisor Al Haymon. Pacquiao touted the deal as one which will give fighters under his umbrella opportunities in the States.
"A lot of boxers want to fight on that card, but I'm so blessed because I'm the one who was picked to fight that championship fight," said Barriga.
Barriga promises to make the most of the biggest opportunity of his professional career and give the former bullies back home a show to remember.