That’s all for tonight. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check out the fight report here.
Pacquiao’s fights have commanded national attention in the Philippines for decades. Tonight’s was no exception. Some scenes for Sunday morning’s public screenings back home …
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Barrios: 'I would love to do it again'
“I thought I still pulled it out,” Barrios says. “But, you know, I still tip my hat to Manny.”
For the WBC welterweight champion, the draw is less about the result and more about the company he kept. “It was an absolute honor, you know, to share the ring with [Pacquiao],” he says. “To share the ring with somebody with so much experience, who has accomplished so much in this sport.
“Man, and shout out to all the Mexican fans here. Shout out to all the Filipinos, you know, for supporting this event. This is huge, by far the biggest event I’ve had to date.
“And you know, we still came in here. We left everything in the ring. Like I said, I tip my hat to Manny. Nothing but love and respect.”
At 46, Pacquiao’s performance surprised even his opponent. “Absolutely,” Barrios said when asked if he was surprised by the legend’s stamina. “It’s crazy. His stamina: he could still crack, you know? He’s still strong as hell.
“And, you know, his timing, his rhythm, everything. He was still a very awkward fighter to try to figure out.”
Did he feel the fight slipping away in the middle to later rounds? “Not necessarily that it was getting away from me,” Barrios says. “I just knew, you know, I had to try to step it up to really, you know, to solidify a win.”
Pacquiao made clear he wants a rematch. Barrios didn’t blink.
“Absolutely,” he said. “This was huge, you know, for boxing. This is huge, what me and him were able to bring here today.
“I would love to do it again.”
Pacquiao says he will fight again
“I thought I won the fight,” Pacquiao says in an in-ring interview. “It was a close fight. My opponent was very tough. It was a wonderful fight.”
When asked how he carried the stamina of a much younger man, Pacquiao’s answer is simple: “We worked hard. Hard work and discipline, everything like that. I had to keep my body in shape as always.”
On what more he could have done: “I’m trying to find a way to finish the fight but my opponent is so tough and brave. He’s not careless. He throws punches in combination and with defense. So it was hard.”
Despite the draw, Pacquiao finds meaning in the moment. “It’s an inspiration to old boxers that, you know, even if you have discipline and hard work, you can still fight,” he says. “I’m so thankful to God, because without God, Manny Pacquiao is not here. God is the source of all the strength and good health that I have right now.”
Asked why he looked sharper than he did four years ago, Pacquiao says: “I’m more experienced. I’m more tactical fighter than before. I’m not as careless as I was young. Now I’m more careful, and I need to, although this is my first comeback, but I need more aggressive style and more punches, throwing punches, because that’s my style.”
Will he fight again? “I think so. I think so. God willing. I only have two months training. What I need to do is, like, continue my training, like in a championship fight like this, I should train four months, three months and a half, so that the fight would be good. But because of the election in the Philippines, I start late for my training, but it’s OK. You know, I love the Filipino people, and I love to give honor to my country.”
And on the possibility of a rematch: “Yes, of course, of course. That’s the only legacy that I can leave behind. You know, to give inspiration to the Filipino people and to be proud wherever you are.”
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Barrios retains title on majority draw!
Mario Barrios has retained his WBC welterweight title on a majority draw. One ringside judge scored it 115-113 for Barrios while the other two had it 114-114. (The Guardian had it 115-113 for Pacquiao.)
Notably, Barrios won the 12th round on all three judges’ cards to secure the result.
Round 12
The fighters circle one another in the center of the ring trading blows. Solid two-way action throughout the round bringing the crowd to its feet for the final half-minute. Barrios appears to have gotten the message about pace and activity. He closes strong and did enough to take the final round on our card, but will it be enough to retain his welterweight title. Or will it be history made for the fighting senator from Sarangani province?
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 9-10 Barrios (Pacquiao 115-113 Barrios)
Round 11
Barrios lands his best combination of the fight early in the 11th. Now he’s got Pacquiao moving backwards and he opens up and throws shots to the head and body. Pacquiao fires back and lands a couple of shots to the body. Barrios lands a lead left flush to the jaw. Good round for the champion.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 9-10 Barrios (Pacquiao 106-103 Barrios)
Round 10
Barrios is fighting at Pacquiao’s pace and allowing the older man’s activity to make the difference. The Texan is not taking enough risks and Pacquiao is clearly in front entering the championship rounds.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 97-93 Barrios)
Round 9
Another round for Pacquiao, who is outthrowing and outlanding the younger man. If he can manage to sustain this frenetic pace for another three rounds, we’ll be looking at a new WBC welterweight champion.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 87-84 Barrios)
Round 8
Barrios continues to employ a very discipled defensive approach, but Pacquiao’s remarkable hand speed (at 46!) continues to make the difference. The champion is very much in this fight, but he’s remained in the same gear since the opening bell and either unwilling or unable to push the pace against his much older foe. A huge closing flurry from Pacquiao in the final seconds of the round likely swayed the judges.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 77-75 Barrios)
Round 7
Pacquiao has started to move to his right, away from Barrios’ right, and he’s taking less punishment as a result. The 46-year-old challenger still looks fresh entering the back half of the scheduled 12 rounds. But Barrios is staying patient, operating behind a consistent jab and continuing to tag Pacquiao with counters.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 9-10 Barrios (Pacquiao 67-66 Barrios)
Round 6
Pacquiao bursts into the pocket and throws six punches in combination, landing a couple a sharp ones to the body. More chants for the older man. Pacquiao wows the crowd by snapping Barrios’ head back with a lead left hand. Then another! Just when it seemed like he was slowing down, Pacquiao seems to have found another gear. He’s landing the more eye-catching combinations, though Barrios is holding his own with counters to the head and body.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 58-56 Barrios)
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Round 5
Barrios is boxing nicely and looking more and more comfortable with each round following a cautious, measured start. He’s really starting to making use of his height and reach advantages. The Barrios jab is scoring with greater frequency and Pacquiao doesn’t have an answer for it.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 9-10 Barrios (Pacquiao 48-47 Barrios)
Round 4
Pacquiao is wobbled by a stiff jab early in the fourth but it looks like he was caught off balance. Barrios is countering nicely as Pacquiao bursts into the pocket to try and close the four-inch reach difference. Pacquiao complains about a shot right along his beltline and not for the first time tonight. Barrios lands a right cross flush. Another close one but Pacquiao is just doing more.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 39-37 Barrios)
Round 3
Pacquiao is setting the pace early in the third, throwing and landing more punches. Barrios continues to work behind the jab and lands a couple of punishing shots to the body. Both fighters open up in the closing seconds and trade punches in the center of the ring. Close round!
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 29-28 Barrios)
Round 2
The bigger Barrios is trying harder to establish the jab. Now the Texan is scoring a bit more frequently with counters as Pacquiao’s activity has slowed from the first. Good work from Barrios moving Pacquiao backward and denying him the in-and-out movement that was keeping him off balance.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 9-10 Barrios (Pacquiao 19-19 Barrios)
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Round 1
There’s the bell. The fighters meet in the center of the ring and Pacquiao immediately begins firing jabs and straight rights. Barrios is feeling out his opponent, throwing sparingly while taking Pacquiao’s measure. Barrios gets Pacquiao’s attention with a crisp right hand. Anything from Pacquiao that comes even close to landing is sparking a loud reaction from the partisan crowd. But the Filipino’s speed and activity wins him the round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios (Pacquiao 10-9 Barrios)
Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr has made the fighter introductions. The final instructions have been given by referee Thomas Taylor, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!
And here comes Pacquiao. The happy warrior emerges from the tunnel to Hall of Fame by The Script and will.i.am. Rowdy cheers of “Man-ny! Man-ny!” for the Filipino legend, who is wearing a black robe with thin gold trim. He’s into the ring and on both knees praying in his corner as Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger blasts over the MGM Grand Garden Arena sound system.
Mario Barrios is making his ring entrance. He’s dressed in full Aztec warrior garb accompanied by That Mexican OT performing Barrio. The champion typically enters the ring second, but that honor was conceded to Pacquiao on the occasion of his comeback fight. Barrios climbs through the ropes after saluting the crowd with a single fist raised aloft.
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Manny Pacquiao has insisted his return to boxing is driven by passion and not nostalgia, as the 46-year-old prepares to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title only a few minutes from now in Las Vegas.
“It’s been a while that I’ve been out of the ring, but I’m still active and exercising all the time,” said Pacquiao, who hasn’t fought professionally since a 2021 loss to Yordenis Ugás. “I want to give the fans what they want. That’s my goal every time I step into the ring.”
The eight-division champion and newly minted Hall of Famer said he’s approached training camp with the same discipline he had two decades ago.
“Just like when I was 26. The passion is still there,” he said at Wednesday’s final press conference. “Saturday night, it’s going to be a great fight. I’m OK being the underdog. I’ve been the underdog many times. I’m always bringing surprises.”
Pacquiao praised his opponent but made it clear he’s coming to win.
“I respect Barrios – he’s a champion and he works hard. But I’m excited to take the belt,” he said. “We’re going to show the world that boxing is still alive and kicking. Manny Pacquiao is still here.”
Barrios, 30, is defending his title for the second time and enters as the betting favorite. But he dismissed the notion that Pacquiao’s age diminishes the challenge.
“Manny is one of a kind,” Barrios said. “He’s not an easy style to copy in training camp. We’ve gotten a lot of different southpaw looks so I’m feeling extremely comfortable.”
Barrios, who drew with Abel Ramos last November, said Saturday’s bout is “historic”, but he’s ready to end it on his terms.
“It’s all smiles right now, but I know that come fight night that smile won’t be on his face anymore, and neither will mine,” he said. “I’m not looking for the knockout, but I’m going in there with bad intentions and power in both hands.”
“I’m ready for war. I’ve poured everything into this sport since I was a kid. Now it’s my job to show why I’m going to continue to be the champion.”
Promoter Tom Brown hailed the bout as “another historic night” for the MGM Grand: “Manny first fought here in 2001. This is his 16th fight at the arena. It’s a full-circle moment.”
Fundora retains WBC 154lb title by RTD 7!
The fight is over! Tszyu doesn’t answer the bell for the eighth round. Just when it was looking like the Sydneysider was having his best moments of the bout, Tszyu tells referee Harvey Dock that he doesn’t want to continue. Fundora springs from his stool in celebration, arms raised skyward.
Fundora was in complete control of this one after the opening few rounds. Tszyu was dropped in the first and cut in the second and appeared to be on his way out, but he’s picked up steam in the middle rounds and has bloodied Fundora’s nose with a thudding right hook.
Sebastian Fundora has scored a first-round knockdown of Tim Tszyu. Tszyu tried to get inside with a left hook but Fundora tagged him with a perfectly timed straight left directly on the jaw. He beats the count and makes it out of the round but it’s an ominous start for the 30-year-old Sydneysider.
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz has won a 10-round unanimous decision over late replacement Omar Salcido in a junior welterweight contest. Two of the ringside judges handed down scores of 99-89 while the third had it a 100-88 shutout. Cruz nearly closed the show in the final round, battering his opponent until he was dinged with a long-overdue point deduction for holding, then scoring a knockdown before Salcido was saved by the bell.
The 27-year-old Cruz controlled the action throughout but struggled at times to draw out his opponent, who reverted to clinching and retreating early on. It marked Salcido’s second straight loss following a wide decision defeat to Andy Cruz in January, and Cruz’s second consecutive victory since losing the WBA title to Jose Valenzuela last August.
Just one undercard bout to go before the main event and it’s a juicy one: Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu in a 12-rounder for Fundora’s WBC junior middleweight title.
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Preamble
Las Vegas has never shied away from a nostalgia act and tonight is no exception. At 46 years old, Manny Pacquiao, one of boxing’s most decorated and beloved champions, steps back into a professional ring for the first time in nearly four years, chasing one more title for a résumé overflowing with them.
He faces Mario Barrios, the 30-year-old WBC welterweight champion with youth, size and momentum on his side. It’s a steep climb for the Filipino legend, who is giving up six inches in height, four inches in reach and more than a decade and a half in age. But this is the same Pacquiao who’s made a career of overcoming odds. Eight divisions. Twelve major world titles. One Hall of Fame induction, just last month in Canastota, New York.
Can Pacquiao, who last tasted victory in 2019, still compete at the highest level? Or will Barrios, soft-spoken but confident, send the fighting senator into retirement once and for all?
The build-up has been respectful, almost reverent. Barrios, who held onto his title with a narrow split draw against Abel Ramos last fall, knows what he’s up against: a southpaw whose rhythm was hard to replicate, whose footwork flummoxed, whose heart never really left the fight game. “Manny is one of a kind,” he said. “But I’m the champion now.”
Pacquiao, meanwhile, insists he’s ready. “The passion is still there,” he said this week. “Even with the layoff, the fire to compete and be a champion again is still burning.” He’s been training with the intensity of his younger years, sparring and running with the same monastic discipline that turned him into a global icon. The last time he fought at the MGM Grand, he outpointed the then-undefeated Keith Thurman in a modest upset. He’s hoping history repeats.
Also on tonight’s bill: a fiery rematch between Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu in the super welterweight co-main. Their March meeting was one of the most gruesome and punishing contests of the year and the rematch promises no less.
So here we are. Pacquiao, back under the lights. Back in Vegas. Back for a belt. Time may be undefeated, but Pacman hasn’t given up the fight. Stay with us for live round-by-round coverage, results and reaction as the night unfolds.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Donald McRae’s report from the heavyweight happenings at Wembley a few hours ago.
