![\"Manny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2226079968-e1753053030352.jpg\")
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Mario Barrios slips in front of Manny Pacquiao during their WBC welterweight title fight ending in a majority draw at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 19, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n
The boxing<\/a>\u2018s only eight-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao<\/a>, proved he still has it after nearly pulling off a massive upset against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, who was 16 years his junior.<\/p>\n The 46-year-old Pacquiao was ahead in all of the judges\u2019 scorecards after the first nine rounds. But Barrios clawed back into the fight, winning the final three rounds to retain his title via a majority draw.<\/p>\n Two judges scored the bout 114-114, while the third judge saw it 115-113 for Barrios.<\/p>\n Pacquiao was the massive underdog in his comeback fight after nearly a four-year retirement. But he stunned the boxing world with plenty of big moments in the bout.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I won the fight,\u201d Pacquiao said during the post-fight interview following the decision. \u201cIt was a close fight. He was very tough. I had to find a way to finish the fight better, but my opponent is so tough. He threw a lot of good combinations and had defense. It was a tough fight.\u201d<\/p>\n The result denied the Filipino boxing legend from becoming the second-oldest boxer to win a world title belt after Bernard Hopkins and the first to have won one after his induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n The former Philippine senator was so proud of his performance that he sent a strong message to his fellow boxers \u2014 active and retired.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope this is an inspiration to boxers that if you have discipline and work hard, you can still fight at this age,\u201d Pacquiao said.<\/p>\n He did more than just fight.<\/p>\n Pacquiao-Barrios Rematch<\/p>\n Barrios, who will make no more than $2.5 million<\/a>, the most lucrative fight of his career, welcomes a second dance with the boxing legend.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll do the rematch,\u201d Barrios said during the post-fight interview. \u201cAbsolutely. This was huge for boxing. I\u2019d love to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n The taller and much younger Barrios was thrown off Pacquiao\u2019s surprising energy.<\/p>\n \u201cHis stamina is crazy,\u201d Barrios said. \u201cHe\u2019s still strong as hell and his timing is real. He\u2019s still a very awkward fighter to try to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n But the proud American-Mexican champion believed he did enough to win.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think the fight was getting away from me, but I knew I had to step it up to solidify a win,\u201d the 30-year-old champion said. \u201cThe plan was to press him and try to make him feel old. But he\u2019s still got good legs.\u201d<\/p>\n Ugas in Awe of Pacquiao<\/p>\n Yordenis Ugas, who fought both fighters in the past, marveled at Pacquiao\u2019s ageless performance.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn, but I\u2019d heard all along that the Pacquiao who fought me was finished, dead, nothing,\u201d Ugas wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cHow is it possible that four years later he comes against a kid 16 years younger and puts up another good fight?<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very close fight. But Pac-Man is incredible. Without a doubt, one of the best fighters in history.\u201d<\/p>\n Ugas was the last boxer Pacquiao faced before he retired. The Cuban boxer defeated Pacquiao via unanimous decision in 2021 but lost to Barrios in 2023.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a basketball journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Boxing\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Mario Barrios slips in front of Manny Pacquiao during their WBC welterweight title fight ending in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-11593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}