'I thought I won the fight' — Manny Pacquiao calls for rematch with Mario Barrios after controversial result

Independent Singapore

a day ago

Photo: Instagram.com/mannypacquiao
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Filipino boxer and 12-time world champion Manny Pacquiao has called for a second fight with Mario Barrios because of the controversial results of their recent WBC welterweight champion match. The match marks Pacquiao's return to the boxing ring after four years of retirement.
The match ended in a draw after 12 rounds. Two of the judges scored the fight a 114-114 draw, while the third judge awarded a 115-113 win to Mario Barrios. With this, Barrios kept his WBC welterweight title and improved his record to 29 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws with 18 knockouts. Meanwhile, Pacquiao now has a record of 62 wins, 8 losses, and 3 draws with 39 knockouts.
Given the results, Pacquiao said he needed to train longer for the rematch: 'I thought I won the fight… I need to continue my training for longer going into a championship fight.'
He added, 'Of course, I'd like a rematch. I want to leave a legacy and make the Filipino people proud.' See also 2026 Tour de France to begin with a team time trial in Barcelona
Barrios is also open to having another fight with the legendary boxer. He admitted: 'I'll do the rematch… Absolutely. This was huge for boxing. I'd love to do it again.'
If Pacquiao had won, he would have become the second-oldest boxer to achieve a major world championship in history. Highlights of the match
Manny Pacquiao started strong as he landed many punches in the early rounds. However, he appeared to have been tired in the middle rounds, which allowed Barrios to gain ground on the scorecards.
According to statistics, Pacquiao landed 101 out of 577 punches and had an 81-75 advantage in power punches, while Barrios connected on 120 of his 658 punches.
On social media, netizens expressed their opinions about the recent match. A number of netizens believed that Pacquiao should have won the match. They made comments such as: 'Manny WON that fight. Stole a great legacy-building victory from him. Absolute disgrace,' 'I think Pacquiao should've won, but anyway, fighting at 46, I think he still did great,' and 'Pacquiao won that fight since he was the better aggressor. You could tell Barrios was happy with the split decision since he thought he lost, too. We all know Manny still won more love & respect in the end #PacquiaoBarrios . '
.@mannypacquiao vs @boxer_barrios ENDS IN A DRAW‼️. WHAT. A. FIGHT. 🔥 #PacquiaoBarrios pic.twitter.com/rMV5Hromc4
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) July 20, 2025
Uncrowned Alan Dawson also said, ' Really feels like Manny Pacquiao just got robbed of a legendary win befitting of a legendary career.'
Really feels like Manny Pacquiao just got robbed of a legendary win befitting of a legendary career#PacquiaoBarrios
— Alan Dawson (@AlanDawsonSport) July 20, 2025 document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { const trigger = document.getElementById("ads-trigger"); if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { entries.forEach(entry => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here observer.unobserve(entry.target); // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); observer.observe(trigger); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });