07/17/25 05:13:00
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07/17 17:11 CDT Pacquiao is back, but how back is he? Saturday's fight against
Barrios will reveal all
Pacquiao is back, but how back is he? Saturday's fight against Barrios will
reveal all
By MARK ANDERSON
AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) --- Manny Pacquiao insisted he was back, and from a purely
technical standpoint, he was correct.
Back in the ring. Back as a headliner.
But back to what he was when Pacquiao was one of the planet's most dominant
fighters, building a massive fanbase and a gold-standard resume that put him in
the International Boxing Hall of Fame last month? That is the real question.
He will get a chance to answer it Saturday night when the 46-year-old from the
Philippines will try to take the WBC welterweight belt from Mario Barrios. It
will be Pacquiao's first fight since losing by unanimous decision to Yordenis
Ugs nearly four years ago. His last victory occurred in 2019, a split decision
over Keith Thurman.
"Saturday night, it's going to be a great fight," Pacquiao said. "It's been a
while that I've been out of the ring, but I'm still active and exercising all
the time. I'm going to prove to everyone that I'm in great condition.
"I've been enjoying training camp like I did in the past, just like when I was
26 years old. The discipline is still the same. Even with my layoff, my passion
is still there."
Barrios, a 30-year-old from San Antonio, is a -275 favorite at BetMGM
Sportsbook to spoil Pacquiao's return. But he needs to bounce back from a
split-decision draw on Nov. 15 against Abel Ramos that dropped his record to
29-2-1, 18 wins by knockout.
"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.
"It feels amazing to be in this position. I poured everything into this sport
since I was (a) kid, and now I get to walk the (Las Vegas) Strip with my family
and see my name all over. It's something that I've always dreamed of. Now it's
my job to show why I'm going to continue to be the champion."
The build-up to this bout hasn't come with the usual forced hatred that
envelops many title fights. The combatants even chatted during the standard
face-off pose at Wednesday's news conference and then broke into laughter.
Hard to imagine that happening at a Gervonta Davis presser.
Barrios cautioned not to read too much into the mutual respect and admiration
when it comes to what the action in the ring might look like, that each boxer
would bring his all.
Pacquiao enters with a resume that includes 12 world championships in eight
divisions as well as a 62-8-2 record with 39 KOs. He's considerably older and
gives away about seven inches in height to the 6-foot Barrios.
Pacman is back, but how back he truly is will be revealed Saturday night.
"I've been a challenger many times and it's always the same feeling," Pacquiao
said. "I'm excited to take the belt. He's a good fighter also, but our job is
to entertain the fans. We're going to give them a real fight."
In the co-main event, WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora
(21-1-1, 14 KOs) will face Tim Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs). Fundora emerged with a
split-decision victory over Tszyu on March 30, 2024.
The WBO stripped Fundora of his belt for taking the rematch rather than face
mandatory challenger Xander Zayas.
"It doesn't matter what happened in the first fight because we have the second
fight coming up," Fundora said. "Tune in Saturday, because it's going to be
another great war."
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
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