Barrios holds off Pacquiao to retain WBC welterweight crown

Manny Paquiao pushed back against his doubters, the odds and even Father Time on Saturday night, but in the end, he fell just short on judges’ scorecards as Mario Barrios escaped with a majority draw to retain the WBC welterweight championship.

Two judges scored the bout a draw, and Barrios was given a 115-113 victory on the third card.

Pacquiao, enshrined into the International Boxing Hall of Fame last month, was trying to break his own record for the oldest welterweight champion. He was 40 when he emerged in 2019 with a split decision over Keith Thurman. This also was his first appearance in the ring in nearly four years for the 46-year-old Filipino, a loss by unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugás.

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Barrios, a 30-year-old from San Antonio, was a -275 favourite at BetMGM Sportsbook. He hoped to bounce back from a split-decision draw on November 15 against Abel Ramos, but didn’t exactly come away with an emphatic victory in improving to 29-2-2. The heavily pro-Pacquiao crowd loudly booed the decision.

Pacquiao’s resume includes 12 world championships in eight divisions. He is now 62-9-2 and said right after the fight that this likely wasn’t his last.