Tim Bradley Explains Why Pacquiao vs. Barrios Was a “Perfect Draw” – Judges Praised

Tim Bradley believes the judges did an excellent job of scoring the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios fight a 12-round draw last Saturday night. Bradley says neither fighter did enough to get the victory.

Tim felt that Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) lacked any kind of defense in the fight, and was just an old shell of the fighter he once was 15 years ago. The 46-year-old Pacquiao’s hand speed and mobility were nowhere near what they were when he last fought in 2016.

Judges Spot On: Tim Bradley

“The judging was spot on, the best judges in boxing. If I scored it, I would have scored it for Barrios,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, discussing last Saturday night’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios’ fight results. “The draw was perfect. I would love to see both of these guys’ contracts.”

I was at ringside, and I had it a draw. The judges were fair and scored it perfectly how the fight played out. Unlike the fans that were pulling for Pacquiao, the judges didn’t have a bias. If you could see the rounds that Barrios won, it comes out to six.

It could have easily been seven as well, because his technical skills were spot on. He landed more shots than Pacquiao, and he didn’t need to load up on them to generate power.

Pacquiao-Barrios: High-Level Sparring

“Just like the Serrano and Taylor fight, it’s similar in that fashion. Both of these guys were in there just having a high-level sparring session,” said Bradley. “That’s all it was. I was disappointed in both of their performances.”

The Pacquiao-Barrios fight was almost identical to the recent Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight. Neither fighter did much, and both looked like they were sparring. Much of the chatter on social media was how it looked staged, and 100% fake. Barrios should have been able to run over Pacquiao, because the Filipino star looked slow and very old. The non-effort from Barrios is what prevented Manny from falling apart.

Barrios’ Heart Questioned by Bradley

“I got to call it like I see it. That was a slower version of Manny Pacquiao. He got hit with some shots that in the past, he usually wouldn’t get hit with. Mario Barrios, where is your heart at? Where is your determination at? If you can’t beat a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao, you don’t belong in the ring. You should just hang them up, bro,” said Bradley.

Preach! Bradley brings up some good points. It looked like Barrios was intentionally holding back the entire fight. He could have used his size and youth advantage to overwhelm Pacquiao from the first round, but he didn’t. It looked like he was fighting at quarter speed on purpose to carry the old timer.

Many fans also noted the same thing in Barrios. He took it easy on the 46-year-old, wanting to save the relic from the past. The only thing that makes one question is how Barrios came on in the championship rounds. Even then, he wasn’t showing the fire we’d seen from him in the past.