Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao made his return to the ring after an absence of four years against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and did remarkably well to record a majority decision draw despite his advanced age. The two headlined a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, July 19. Additionally, Sebastian Fundora impressed to retire Tim Tszyu on his stool to retain his WBC 154-pound title.
Mario Barrios vs. Manny Pacquiao
Preceding the match were doubts about Manny Pacquiao’s (62-8-3, 39 KO’s) return to the ring given his 46-years of age, but the Filipino fighter still showed to have some pep in his step as he labored towards a majority decision (MD) draw against Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KO’s).
Challenging for Barrios’ WBC welterweight (147 lbs) title, leapfrogging more deserving contenders by virtue of his accolades in the past, Manny Pacquiao proved to be a match for Mario Barrios who distinguished himself as the weakest world champion in the division.
Despite Barrios being just 30-years old, the American fighter did nothing to impress and indicate he warranted a hold over a world title as he struggled to deal with Pacquiao’s classic “punches in bunches” style and his ability to exert pressure well. Barrios took up a more counterpunching approach given his longer reach made him more vulnerable up close.
Scheduled for the standard 12 rounds afforded to title fights, Pacquiao’s motor proved remarkably intact for a large number of rounds despite not having fought professionally for 4 years.
The pace of the match differed per round, with Manny Pacquiao pushing the pace for the most part and proving most proficient with his jabs and combination punches. Choosing to keep a tight defense, Barrios did well facing Pacquiao’s expected onslaught and countered well in turn, but faced against an older opponent dealing with ring rust, the reality of his underperformance couldn’t be more understated as the two fight the entirety of the 12-designated rounds.
During the latter portion of the fight, Barrios predictably had more success as Pacquiao’s activity waned, allowing him to arguably take most of the championship rounds with Pacquiao simply being a step too slow, culminating in him being countered quite heavily as he attempted to come inside range to offload his punches.
The judges scored the fight with two 114-114 scores, and one 115-113 score in favor of Mario Barrios, culminating in a majority decision (MD) draw that arguably could have gone either way given Barrios fought a nip-tight battle with Manny Pacquiao ― a battle that signified Barrios either holding back or having declined since becoming a champion. Barrios retained his WBC title as a result.
Notably, Mario Barrios has failed to impress as a WBC world champion since being elevated last year, recording a split-decision draw in his first title defense against Abel Ramos to now going toe-to-toe with a 46-year old Manny Pacquiao ― a Pacquiao who Cuban fighter Yordenis Ugas, who Barrios would defeat in 2023, defeated soundly when the Filipino legend had been four years younger.
Undercard fights:
The co-main event proved to be the main course of the bout as American WBC super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KO’s) and Australian contender Tim Tszyu (25-3, 18 KO’s) clashed in a rematch of their 2024 bout.
The tale of the match was the knockdown Tszyu suffered in the 1st round which seemed to play a heavy-handed role in the eventual result of the bout.
The 1st round was predictably evenly-sided and slow as the two began testing their range, with both fighters finding a decent amount of gaps in each other’s defenses ― though neither fully capitalized.
That was, of course, until the half point of the fight where Tszyu and Fundora were in the midst of exchanging with each other. Given an advantage through his long reach and southpaw position, Fundora landed a hard left hand as Tszyu attempted a jab that barely landed in turn. Tszyu was knocked down in an instant, and the match arguably swiveled firmly into Fundora’s hands afterwards.
The 2nd round proved this. Straying from pressuring Sebastian Fundora and making an impact on the inside, Tim Tszyu was forced into unfamiliar territory as he was forced on the backfoot against a fighter known for his long reach. As Fundora aimed to repeat the knockdown of earlier, the adjustment in gameplan to exert pressure worked perfectly as Tszyu found himself on the onslaught of the American champion’s combinations at various points of the bout.
With the Australian fighter veering towards becoming more cautious, Fundora was able to dominate from that point as Tszyu’s offensive waned ― arguably caused by his own concerns of being knocked down again, allowing Fury to take control of the ring and land a multitude of defendable punches.
Despite his struggles, Tim Tszyu did well to remain in the fight even as he clearly appeared to lose rounds, with a resurgence in some of the rounds suggesting there was potential to get back in the fight. However, Fundora’s fundamentals were rock-solid, while his heavy and long jab prevented Tszyu from gaining the momentum needed to turn the fight around.
Notably, however, even with many of the rounds going in favor of Fundora, many were hard-won by the American and were considerably close.
By the 7th round, Tszyu actually found some success but lost the majority of exchanges with Fundora inside the pocket who did well to come out on top despite his long reach ― a testament to Fundora’s well-developed offensive techniques. After both fighters took damage in the 7th, though Tszyu seemed worse off after barely holding off against Fundora’s heavy barrage towards the end of the round.
During the break leading to the 8th round, the fight was abruptly stopped after Tszyu decided to remain on his stool as the time arrived for both to get in the ring, signifying his decision to quit and giving Fundora a deserved win by retirement (RTD) in the 7th round and allowing the American to retain his WBC title for the third time of his career.
Tszyu’s decision to retire was almost inevitable with the fighter already losing on the scorecards ― with all judges scoring the fight 69-63 in favor of Fundora by the end of the 7th round ― and the Australian losing many tight exchanges not helped by the knockdown he suffered earlier, which could have debilitated him.
Notably, Tszyu has shown difficulty in recovering from knockdowns based on last year’s contest against Russian IBF 154 lbs champion Bakhram Murtazaliev who knocked Tszyu down several times during the fight and eventually stopped him in just the 3rd round.
Tszyu also unintentionally drew parallels to former undisputed super lightweight (140 lbs) champion Kostya Tszyu, his father, retiring on his stool 20 years after Kostya Tszyu did the same against Ricky Hatton in 2005 on June 4th. The contest would be Kostya Tszyu’s last professional fight.
With another title defense complete, Fundora remains firmly in grip of the WBC title, though there are still plenty of challenges ahead of him. A new WBO champion is set to emerge later this week as Puerto Rican starlet Xander Zayas (21-0, 13 KO’s) and Mexican contender Jorge Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KO’s face each other on July 26th for the vacant title ― a title Fundora abandoned in order to be able to face Tszyu rather than Zayas who was appointed the mandatory challenger to the title by the WBO.
Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KO’s) is still the IBF champion and remains without a fight since his October win over Tszyu, providing Fundora with another steep challenge if a bout with the future WBO champion can not be arranged.
Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) still holds the WBA title but his plans for returning to the 154 lbs division appear to be slim given his upcoming September 13th contest against undisputed 168 lbs champion Canelo Alvarez ― with retirement remaining a possibility for Crawford regardless whether he wins or loses.
Lastly, WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KO’s) could derail Fundora’s plans to remain champion, though this fight very much relies on the WBC to order a bout between the two fighters.
At featherweight (126 lbs), American contender Brandon Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KO’s) went back to winning ways following his recent loss of the WBC title to Stephen Fulton. Figueroa recorded a unanimous decision (UD) win over two-time challenger and countryman Joet Gonzalez (27-5, 15 KO’s) in a competitive fight.
Mexican super lightweight contender Isaac Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KO’s) also notched an important win as he defeated fellow Mexican contender Omar Salcido Gamez (20-3, 14 KO’s) by UD to claim the WBC interim title at 140 lbs. Cruz is now 2-0 following his 2024 defeat and title loss to former WBA 140-pound champion Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela.
Filipino super featherweight (130 lbs) contender Mark Magsayo (28-2, 18 KO’s) still appears strong in the race to contend at 130 pounds after defeating Mexican contender Jorge Mata (21-3-2, 13 KO’s).
Well known for being a former world champion at 126 lbs and his failed bid to become the WBC interim champion against Figueroa in 2023, Magsayo won his contest against Mata handily and appears close to a potential bout against WBC 130-pound champion Stephen Fulton (23-1, 8 KO’s) after netting the WBC Continental Americas title in his UD win over Mata.
Also at 130 lbs, 37-year old American veteran and former world champion Gary Allen Russell Jr. (32-2, 19 KO’s), older brother of WBA super lightweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KO’s), came back from his three-year stint out of the ring to likely attempt to aim for glory again at super featherweight. Allen did well to stop Mexican opponent Hugo Castaneda (15-3-1, 11 KO’s) in the 10th round of their 10-round bout.
Following the victories of Russell and Magsayo on the same card, it appears inevitable the two will face each other for a mandatory position or interim title on a future PBC card.
