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Andreas Hale
LAS VEGAS — More than 24 years after Manny Pacquiao made his stateside debut at the MGM Grand Garden Arena by upsetting Lehlo Ledwaba for the IBF junior featherweight title, the Filipino sensation attempted to make history as the oldest fighter to win the welterweight championship at the same venue where it all started.
But Pacquiao, 46, fell short in his attempt when his fight with WBC champion Mario Barrios ended in a majority draw Saturday night. Barrios retained his title as a result, and Pacquiao left Las Vegas empty-handed.
“I thought I won the fight,” a dejected Pacquiao said. “It was a close fight. He was very tough.”
Pacquiao was ahead on all three scorecards going into the 10th round. However, all three judges scored the final three rounds for Barrios, allowing him to retain his title. The result — with two judges scoring it 114-114 and one judge scoring it 115-113 for Barrios — fell flat in front of a capacity crowd of 13,107, most of whom were Pacquiao fans.
Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) ended a four-year retirement a month after being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and started quickly against Barrios, who is 16 years his junior. The early rounds saw a more vintage version of Pacquiao, a far cry from the sluggish version who lost a decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021. Boxing’s only eight-division world champion brought the crowd to life by launching into his trademark offense, darting his left hand between Barrios’ gloves and rolling in with combinations.
But Father Time appeared to have his way with Pacquiao, as the former senator in the Philippines slowed down by the middle rounds.
“I need to continue my training for longer going into a championship fight,” said Pacquiao, who announced his return to the ring in May after falling short in his run for senator. “Because of the election I started late, but it’s OK. Of course I’d like a rematch. I want to leave a legacy and make the Filipino people proud.”
Heading into the fight, Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) had only lost to Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman. However, his past two outings against Abel Ramos (draw) and Fabian Maidana (win) were far from impressive.
Barrios was handpicked by Pacquiao for his return fight and was granted a title shot due to the WBC’s rules stating that a former champion could request a title fight after coming out of retirement. Pacquiao nearly pulled it off, but Barrios clawed his way back into the fight.
“His stamina is crazy,” Barrios said. “He’s still strong as hell and his timing is real. He’s still a very awkward fighter to try to figure out.”
Pacquiao summoned the energy to fire his combinations but was clearly tiring in the second half as Barrios did just enough to convince the judges, allowing him to retain his title.
Pacquiao landed 101 of 577 punches (17.5%) to Barrios’ 120 of 658 (18.2%), but Pacquiao managed to outland his opponent 81-75 in power punches.
Barrios said he would be interested in sharing the ring with the legend again.
“I’ll do the rematch,” Barrios said. “Absolutely. This was huge for boxing. I’d love to do it again.”
Considering that Pacquiao said he is looking to fight again, he might get another attempt at making history. Until then, he can take solace in proving he still has it.
Said Pacquiao, “I hope this is an inspiration to boxers that if you have discipline and work hard you can still fight at this age.”
