46-year-old Manny Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) looked impressive for a fighter his age, battling to a 12-round majority draw against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The scores are 114-114, 114-114, and 115-113 for Barrios.
Was Barrios Suppressed?
What made Pacquiao look so good was how bad Barrios looked. He fought poorly, not throwing, and seemed to put in minimal effort in many of the rounds. It seemed like he wasn’t even trying, and many fans were suspicious during and after the fight.
Pacquiao’s reflexes were shot, movement nowhere near what ot once was. and looking very old. It was Barrios throwing weak jabs and not putting in any energy into his shots.
It was like he was being suppressed by the forces of gravity, preventing his arms from throwing punches, and that looked fishy. Any welterweight in the top 15 would have feasted on Pacquiao with how he looked tonight.
The draw means that Pacquiao has failed in his efforts to capture the WBC title from Barrios. That ruins Manny’s plans to use the WBC title as a lure to get 48-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. to come out of retirement to fight him.
Barrios’ Performance: A Game Plan?
“We’ve seen Manny on the end of bad decisions before, but this is what he’s got to deal with,” said Shawn Porter to the media, reacting to Pacquiao’s draw against Barrios. “You can’t go through a camp and deal with what he had to deal with.
“Mario made the fight difficult. He’s a better boxer than I realized. He came to the ring with a game plan to try to box and be patient to find openings. I don’t think Mario did enough to win. I think he did enough for a draw. I think there was a lot more that he could have done.
“The style that he chose to box was actually a good style to use against Manny Pacquiao.”
Last Updated on 07/20/2025
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