Pacquiao ‘not an easy fight’ for Mario Barrios–Juan Manuel Marquez
Manny Pacquiao trains with longtime coach Freddie Roach at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.–Photo from Freddie Roach’s Instagram
MANILA, Philippines–Manny Pacquiao opened as a heavy underdog ahead of his comeback fight against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on July 19 in Las Vegas.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao has come out of retirement four years after losing to Yordenis Ugas by unanimous decision to challenge a 30-year-old Barrios, who is also four inches taller.
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The odds may not be in Pacquiao’s favor but his greatest adversary believes it’s best not to bet against the Filipino ring legend.
“After four years of inactivity, we’ll see how he comes back. After that knockout in 2012, he continued to fight and he looked pretty good beating great fighters,” said Mexican boxing great Juan Manuel Marquez in an interview with ProBox TV recently.
“Manny Pacquiao is a fighter who dedicates himself, a disciplined fighter. It’s not an easy fight for Mario Barrios,” he added.
Marquez, who officially retired from the sport in 2017, knows Pacquiao like the palm of his hand having shared four epic fights with his fiercest rival from 2004 to 2012.
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Their first bout saw Marquez fight his way back from three first-round knockdowns to force a split draw. They met again in 2008 and 2011 with Pacquiao narrowly winning on points before Marquez capped their storied rivalry with a last-second knockout victory in the sixth round.
“This is a battle of experience that favors the Filipino fighter. With his power and speed, the question now is how well he can perform in his return to the ring.”
Since the brutal loss to Marquez, Pacquiao won eight of his next 11 bouts, including an impressive performance against Keith Thurman in 2019 to claim the WBA (Super) welterweight crown.
Pacquiao (64-7-1, 40KOs) last fought professionally in August 2021 when he lost the title to Ugas on points.
Interestingly, Barrios (28-2-1, 18KOs) beat Ugas for the vacant WBC interim belt and has since defended the title twice, defeating Fabian Maidana in May 2024 before settling for a draw against Abel Ramos six months later.
