“I thought I won the fight,” said Manny Pacquiao in a press conference following his defeat to reigning welterweight champion Mario Barrios.
On July 19 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, 46-year-old Pacquiao returned to the ring for the first time in four years to face 30-year-old Barrios. For 12 rounds, Pacquiao and Barrios traded blows in a fast-paced, tactical bout that had Pacquiao’s fans believing he was sure to win.
Early on, the former champion landed clean shots and used his speed to outmaneuver the bigger, younger Barrios. However, the fight also saw the American boxer holding back his punches. “Barrio was tentative and let Pacquiao get off first in exchanges… to try to impress the judges,” Vic Tafur of The Athletic wrote. “It wasn’t until Round 10 that he started applying some real pressure.”
In the end, Barrios finished strong, and the judging panel scored the fight 115-113 (in favor of Barrios), 114-114, and 114-114, ruling it a majority draw. This allowed Barrios to hold onto the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight title.
If Pacquiao was stunned by the fight’s outcome, he wasn’t alone. Sports analysts closely following the game were just as baffled, many believing that he had done enough to edge out the win. “I had it 115-113 on my scorecard,” sports analyst Ed Tolentino said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo. “I thought Barrios respected [Pacquiao] too much and was hesitant because he was getting hit.”
“Pacquiao was impressive for a 46-year-old,” continued Tolentino. “For a 46-year-old to go twelve hard rounds with a fighter who is only 30 years old, to me, it is already mission accomplished. It hurts to think that he did not get the decision.”
Other boxing industry experts have echoed this sentiment, calling out the judges for their decision to give Barrios the win. “When you have — I’m just going to say it — incompetent judges that don’t truly understand everything that they see… you’re taking a chance on working through another camp… putting your heart on the line, your life on the line, and then this is the kind of result you get,” former welterweight world champion and sports commentator Shawn Porter said during main event coverage.
Despite falling short, Pacquiao has made it clear that this isn’t the last time he’ll be stepping into the ring. “Of course I’d like a rematch,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “I want to leave a legacy and make the Filipino people proud.”
Barrios, for his part, has been a gracious winner. “It was an honor to share the ring with him,” said Barrios at the same press conference. “This is by far the biggest event I’ve had to date, and we came in here and left everything in the ring. I have nothing but respect for Manny.”
“It wasn’t necessarily about respect,” added Barrios. “It was just… he still has a lotta crack. For his age, he was very explosive, tricky, and I just wasn’t trying to make a mistake by overcommitting on a shot that I wasn’t sure of.”
