Barrios Kept His Belt After a Three-Round Swing Against Pacquiao

Mario Barrios retained the WBC welterweight championship after a majority draw with Manny Pacquiao on July 19, 2025. Their twelve-round main event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas ended with two 114–114 cards and one 115–113 score for Barrios.

The ninth-round position left Barrios needing a strong finish

Tim Cheatham and Steve Weisfeld each had Pacquiao ahead 87–84 after nine rounds. Max De Luca also favored Pacquiao at that stage, although his margin was narrower at 86–85.

The challenger’s work had therefore created a real opportunity to leave with the championship. Pacquiao’s eighth round included a lively late burst that increased the crowd’s belief in the comeback.

Every judge gave Barrios the closing rounds

Barrios won the tenth, eleventh and twelfth on all three official cards. That shared view of the finish erased Pacquiao’s leads and determined the eventual result.

Cheatham and Weisfeld reached level totals, while De Luca’s card moved in front for the defending champion. Barrios retained his belt despite neither boxer securing a majority of winning verdicts.

A close fight produced different strengths

The promoter’s punch statistics credited Pacquiao with eighty-one power punches to Barrios’s seventy-five. Barrios landed forty-five jabs, compared with Pacquiao’s twenty, giving him a different route to effective offense.

Both fighters expressed interest in a rematch afterward. The immediate championship outcome, however, rested on the three final rounds: a unanimous late swing in Barrios’s favor that turned the challenger’s advantage into a draw.

Sources

• PBC: individual judges’ totals after nine rounds and the closing-round sweep
• PBC: eighth-round rally and punch statistics
• Nevada commission: July 19 venue and majority-draw result

Tags

Boxing, Combat Sports