LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao proved that age is just a number but fell short of becoming the second-oldest world champion in boxing history as he shared a majority draw with Mario Barrios.
The 46-year-old Filipino legend looked plenty sharp and had some bright moments to get the sold-out and incredibly partisan crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on their feet, but he couldn't do enough to relieve Barrios, 16 years his junior, of the WBC welterweight title.
Two judges had it 114-114, while a third had it 115-113 for Barrios.
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"I thought I won the fight," Pacquiao said following the decision.
"It was a close fight. He was very tough. I had to find a way to finish the fight better but my opponent is so tough. He threw a lot of good combinations and had defense. It was a tough fight."
Pacquiao took the majority draw in stride, adding that his mere presence in the ring at such an advanced age after such a long layoff could spark inspiration in other fighters.
"I hope this is an inspiration to boxers that if you have discipline and work hard you can still fight at this age," Pacquiao said.
Both Pacquiao and Barrios confirmed their willingness to run it back.
"He's still strong as hell and his timing is real," Barrios said. "He's still a very awkward fighter to try to figure out. I didn't think the fight was getting away from me, but I knew I had to step it up to solidify a win. The plan was to press him and try to make him feel old. But he's still got good legs.
"I'll do the rematch," Barrios added. "Absolutely. This was huge for boxing. I'd love to do it again."
In the chief support, Sebastian Fundora put an exclamation point on his rivalry with Tim Tszyu, stopping the Australian in another all-action clash.
While there may have been questions following the first meeting, there was no doubt this time around, with Tszyu's corner advising referee Harvey Dock to stop the bout ahead of the eighth round.
That came after Tszyu found himself on the canvas in the opening round as Fundora turned in a career-best performance to retain the WBC super welterweight title.
Earlier, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz won the interim WBC super lightweight title with a one-sided decision win over late-notice replacement Omar Salcido.
The all-action crowd favourite was at his intimidating best, walking Salcido down and landing seemingly endless power shots, with his opponent’s durability emerging as one of the main takeaways from the bout.
To kick off the pay-per-view, Brandon Figueroa claimed a hard-fought victory over Joet Gonzalez in their WBA featherweight title eliminator, earning a close points decision following 12 rounds of high-paced, close-quarters action.
The Sporting News provided live coverage and results from the Pacquiao vs. Barrios card and round-by-round coverage of the main event.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios results
- Mario Barrios (c) draws Manny Pacquiao (114-114 x2, 115-113 Barrios)for the WBC welterweight title
- Sebastian Fundora (c) def. Tim Tszyu via TKO7 for the WBC super welterweight title
- Isaac Cruz def. Omar Salcido Gamez via UD10 (99-89 x2, 100-88) for the interim WBC super lightweight title
- Brandon Figueroa def. Joet Gonzalez via UD12 (115-113, 116-112 x2); Featherweights
- Gary Russell Jr. def. Hugo Castaneda via TKO10; Super Featherweights
- David Picasso def. Kyonosuke Kameda via MD10 (95-95, 97-93, 98-92); Super Bantamweights
- Mark Magsayo def. Jorge Mata Cuellar via UD10 (100-90 x2, 98-92); Lightweights
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios results, highlights from 2025 boxing card
Mario Barrios (c) vs. Manny Pacquiao - MAJORITY DRAW
After 12 rounds, Pacquiao and Barrios can't be split, with two judges scoring a draw, and the third in favor of the champion.
(114-114 x2, 115-113 Barrios)
Round 12: Barrios starts more aggressively. Pacquiao scores down the middle. Barrios on the attack. Nothing of consequence so far in the round. Barrios the more accurate to our eye. The crowd roars the final bell. Barrios gets the nod on our card. Regardless the final result, Pacquiao's performance at age 46 has been a marvel.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (115-113 Barrios)
Round 11: Barrios tees off with a slick combo on the counter. Pacquiao shakes it off. Barrios back on the jab. With such a partisan crowd, the judges could easily be swayed Pacquiao's direction. Pacquiao pops off two shots. A left definitely landed for Pac Man.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Pacquiao (105-104 Barrios)
Round 10: Barrios fires off some technical work in close. They trade hard shots, mostly into the guard. Another tough one to choose. While flashy, many of Pacquiao's punches are missing the mark. Could go either way, Pacquaio for us. Just.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Pacquiao (96-94 Barrios)
Round nine: Pacquiao looks to keep the momentum going. A left gets through for the Filipino. Close round for Pacquiao so far. He's now growing in confidence. With several close rounds earlier in the fight, this one could still be up for grabs if it goes to the cards.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Pacquiao (87-84 Barrios)
Round eight: While Pacquiao is by no means outclassed here, it's hard to make a case for him in the close rounds, with Barrios doing the cleaner work. The champ catches him coming in. Pacquiao unloads a sharp combo. And counters well with hard shots. His best work of the fight by far. Great round for Manny.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Pacquiao (78-74 Barrios)
Round seven: Pacquiao finds the target with a sharp combination upstairs. Barrios fires back with one of his own to snap Manny's head back. One gets through for each man as they go shot for shot in the middle of the ring. Barrios is doing well to avoid Pacquiao's power hand and finishes off the round strongly with a left hook.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (69-64 Barrios)
Round six: Pacquiao times a counter well and gets on the front foot to follow it up. Barrios catches his man coming in this time. More complaints of a low blow from Pacquiao fall on deaf ears. Barrios goes to the body in the clinch. They both let their hands go in the final seconds but nothing of note lands.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (59-55 Barrios)
Round five: A stiff jab sends Manny backwards but he fires some rapid combinations to get the crowd excited. More nice work with the lead hand for Barrios. Pacquiao misses a power left. Barrios is getting the better of most of these exchanges. Pacquiao lands to finish the round.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (49-46 Barrios)
Round four: Barrios digs in a two-shot salvo to the body. The champ looks to be growing in confidence and getting a read on the timing. Pacquiao gets a warning but lands a wide left hand shortly after.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (39-37 Barrios)
Round three: Some good footwork by both has the other man missing to start the round. Barrios goes to the body with his right hand. Pacquiao stops after a body shot, wanting it called low, he's told to fight on my Thomas Taylor. Manny gives one but eats two on the counter. They trade at range to finish the round, with Barrios landing a long right. Another close one for Barrios.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (29-28 Barrios)
Round two: Barrios lands a sharp jab to open up the round. Pacquiao misses a left hand. Barrios doubles up on the jab and goes down but it's rightly ruled a slip. Barrios responds to a rear hand with another double jab. The size difference is stark. Close round for Barrios.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Barrios (19-19)
Round one: Pacquiao fires a left hand into the guard of Barrios. The champ gets on the jab. Watchful start by both. Pacquiao looks sharp. Every punch, connected or otherwise, thrown by the Filipino is roared by this Vegas crowd. More scoring shots land for the 46-year-old. Great start by Pac Man.
SN unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Pacquiao
8:25 p.m. PT/ 11:25 p.m. ET: It's almost time. Follow along with our unofficial scorecard.
8:22 p.m. PT/ 11:22 p.m. ET: Pacquiao walks to a medley of The Script's "Hall of Fame" and "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor. The roof might come off this place.
8:21 p.m. PT/ 11:21 p.m. ET: Barrios makes the walk first. And now the crowd loses it as Pacquiao is announced.
Sebastian Fundora (c) vs. Tim Tszyu 2 - FUNDORA WINS VIA ROUND 7 TKO
Click here for round-by-round updates on Fundora vs. Tszyu 2.
7:56 p.m. PT/ 10:56 p.m. ET: It's over! Fundora retains the WBC super-welterweight title, with Tszyu's corner stopping the fight before the eighth round.
7:50 p.m. PT/ 10:50 p.m. ET: Tszyu makes adjustments and gets himself into the fight. The fourth and fifth rounds are fairly even, with both competitors landing shots. Fundora maintains control despite his opponent's improvement.
7:40 p.m. PT/ 10:40 p.m. ET: Tszyu becomes more aggressive in the second and third rounds, but is still struggling with Fundora's reach. With his face damaged on the right side, the Australian fires some haymakers, but Fundora remains on top.
7:30 p.m. PT/ 10:30 p.m. ET: Fundora drops Tszyu in the opening round! The champion uses his lead hand well, before sitting his opponent with a left hand. The Australian gets up quickly, though, before copping another left hand.
Isaac Cruz vs. Omar Salcido Gamez - CRUZ WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION
7:06 p.m. PT/ 10:06p.m. ET: Somehow, Salcido makes the final bell. There was never any doubt about which way the decision would go but, given the ferocious onslaught Cruz subjected his opponent to in the eighth and tenth rounds, it was stunning that it took until the final 30 seconds for Salcido to touch the canvas. He also had a point taken shortly before for holding but it was never going to be a factor, with Pitbull taking out a one-sided decision (99-89 x2, 100-88) to claim the interim WBC super lightweight title.
6:50 p.m. PT/ 9:50 p.m. ET: We're through seven now and it's still near-complete dominance from Cruz. A lesser chin might have gone down by now but Salcido remains up for the fight.
6:34 p.m. PT/ 9:34 p.m. ET: Three rounds down and Pitbull has won all of them so far. In his typical style, he's walking Salcido down and sweeping right hands to the body before switching up with one upstairs. He's already landed several hard shots but Salcido has eaten them so far.
Brandon Figueroa vs. Joet Gonzalez - FIGUEROA WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION
6:04 p.m. PT/ 9:04 p.m. ET: And they continue swinging away up close right to the final bell. Figueroa moves to 26-2-1 with the unanimous decision win (115-113, 116-112 x2). The former world champ appeared to be landing the more damaging shots over the final few rounds and that won him the fight in the end. He's now in the box seat for a shot at the WBA featherweight strap. Gonzalez is now 27-5.
5:46 p.m. PT/ 8:46 p.m. ET: We've had four more rounds of a similar pattern, with both guys taking turns pounding away in the middle of the ring. Could be anyone's.
5:30 p.m. PT/ 8:30 p.m. ET: Four rounds of the scheduled 12 in the books and it's shaping as a tough one to score. Fought almost exclusively at close range, Gonzalez is the busier while Figueroa may be landing the cleaner shots.
Gary Russell Jr. vs. Hugo Castaneda - RUSSELL JR. WINS BY ROUND 10 TKO
4:58 p.m. PT/ 7:58 p.m. ET: And it's over. Castaneda battled on but couldn't make the final bell after being dropped with a thunderous right hand to the body early into the 10th round. Former featherweight champ Russell Jr. announces himself as a force at lightweight after a three-and-a-half year layoff, moving to 32-2
4:45 p.m. PT/ 7:45 p.m. ET: Castaneda hits the canvas again in the sixth, this time due to a shovel hook at the end of a two-shot counter.
4:36 p.m. PT/ 7:36 p.m. ET: Four rounds into this one and Castaneda has worked his way into the fight after Russell Jr. started with a bang, dropping his man twice in the second round. The first coming thanks to a rear hand-right hook counter, the second after a destructive combination against the ropes.
David Picasso vs. Kyonosuke Kameda - PICASSO WINS BY MAJORITY DECISION
4:13 p.m. PT/ 7:13 p.m. ET: They go the distance at super bantamweight, with Picasso taking a majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 98-92). He moves to 31-0-1, while Kameda is now 15-5-2.
3:48 p.m. PT/ 6:48 p.m. ET: Halfway through the fight and it's not the one-sided beatdown for Picasso the betting odds might have suggested. The Mexican is most likely in front on the cards but Kameda is having success catching and shooting.
Mark Magsayo vs. Jorge Mata Cuellar - MAGSAYO WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION
3:22 p.m. PT/ 6:22 p.m. ET: And so ends a highly entertaining fight, with Magsayo, now 28-2, taking out the decision. Mata appeared to grow in confidence through the second half of the bout, regularly finding the target with right hand counters. Former world champion Magsayo, however, was the more active and damaging of the pair and took the decision on all three cards (100-90 x2, 98-92). Mata drops 21-3-2.
3:10 p.m. PT/ 6:10 p.m. ET: Through seven rounds and it's more of the same, which means Mata has been showing a hell of a chin, having worn a vicious uppercut in the fourth round.
2:57 p.m. PT/ 5:57 p.m. ET: Three rounds down in an entertaining fight and Magsayo is on top, digging in to the body well, although Mata has countered sharply on occasion to keep things interesting.
2:40 p.m. PT/ 5:40 p.m. ET: Magsayo and Mata are in the ring for the televised opener.
2:30 p.m. PT/ 5:30 p.m. ET: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Manny Pacquiao's challenge for the WBC welterweight title against Mario Barrios. At 46 and after a four-year absence from competitive boxing, can Pac Man improbably roll back the years?
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- Revisiting Manny Pacquiao's last fight before 2025 comeback
- Inside the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios fight purse
(Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios start time
- Date: Saturday, July 19
- Time: 8 p.m. ET | 5 p.m. PT
- Main event start time (approx.): 11:15 p.m. ET | 8:15 p.m. PT
- Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios airs on July 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET. The main event should begin around 11:15 p.m. ET, depending on how long the undercard fights last.
How to watch Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios
- Live stream: Prime Video
- Prime Video: $8.99/month | Ad-free: $11.98/month
- PPV Price: $79.95
Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios will be on Prime Video. The PPV price is $79.95.