Manny Pacquiao Eyes Title Shot Against Barrios
Las Vegas, NV – Manny Pacquiao expressed his familiar underdog mentality heading into a potential bout against WBC junior middleweight champion Mario Barrios. “I’ve been the underdog many times. I’m always bringing surprises,” Pacquiao stated at a press conference in Las Vegas. “I’ve been a challenger many times adn its always the same feeling. I’m excited to take the belt.”
Barrios, 16 years Pacquiao’s junior, currently holds the WBC interim belt, which he secured with a unanimous decision victory over Ugas in September 2023. He successfully defended the title once before being elevated to full champion status when Terence Crawford relinquished the belt to move up in weight. Barrios most recently retained his title in a split draw against abel Ramos on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event last November.
Barrios’ professional record includes two losses, one against Gervonta “Tank” Davis in 2021 and another against thurman in 2022. In his fight with davis, a southpaw like Pacquiao, Barrios was knocked down twice, sustained a cut above his left eye, and was ultimately stopped in the 11th round.
“Manny is one of a kind. He’s not an easy style to copy in training camp,” Barrios commented on facing Pacquiao.”We’ve gotten a lot of different southpaw looks so I’m feeling extremely comfortable. At the end of the day, he’s just another man in there. Another opponent trying to take my title.”
In other recent boxing news, sebastian Fundora successfully defended his WBC junior middleweight world title with a TKO victory over Tim Tszyu in a rematch. Fundora had previously defeated Tszyu by split decision in their initial encounter in March 2024. Earlier in the day, Oleksandr Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion by defeating Daniel Dubois via fifth-round knockout at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Andreas Hale is providing live coverage from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, including undercard results, fight updates, and round-by-round analysis.
