The judges’ decision in the Manny Pacquiao versus Mario Barrios fight was “majority draw”
Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao, also known as Pacman, failed to grab the WBC Welterweight Champion title from American boxer Mario Barrios.
Pacquiao’s boxing career is well-celebrated by Filipinos, as well as by international boxing fans. He already had iconic matches in the past that made him well-known in this sport. The Pinoy boxer is considered one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing.
Four years after his last professional fight in 2021 against Yordenis Ugas, in which he lost, Manny returned to the ring.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena was filled with loud cheers on Saturday, July 19, in the United States (July 20 in Philippine time). Based on the report from ABS-CBN, during the first minute of the First Round, it was a feel-out. Then, Manny Pacquiao started attacking. He did some jabs and soft straights that garnered “ooh” reactions from the crowd.
In Round Four, Barrios took advantage of his reach. He did jabs, and he was able to dictate the distance. It was said that the best round for the Pinoy boxer was the eighth because he landed a flurry in the last 30 seconds. Because of that, the crowd was on their feet.
However, in the next round, the American boxer was able to recover. During the last 10 seconds of Round Ten, Manny once again had that flurry that made the crowd cheer.
In Round Eleven, Barrios started strong, but in the middle of the round, Pacquiao recovered. He attacked with good movement. Based on the report, Barrios seemed to think that he was behind on points during Round Twelve because he was more aggressive. By that time, Manny Pacquiao had some good defense and cautious movement.
When the scores were announced, one judge gave 115-113 in favor of Barrios, the other two judges had 114-114. With this, the decision was a majority draw. Because of this, Barrios remains the WBC welterweight champion.