Pacquiao’s comeback falls short as Barrios retains WBC welterweight title in majority draw

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Manny Paquiao pushed back against his doubters, the odds and even Father Time on Saturday night, but in the end 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 oldest welterweight champion. He was 40 when he emerged in 2019 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.

Barrios, a 30-year-old from San Antonio, was a -275 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook. He hoped to bounce back from a split-decision draw on Nov. 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 now is 62-9-2 and said right after the fight this likely wasn’t his last.

Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) retained his WBC super welterweight title when Tim Tszyu (25-3) didn’t come out for the eighth round in the co-main event. Fundora floored Tszyu with a left hand in the first round and dominated the action with 118 power punches, according to Compubox, by repeatedly backing down the Australian.

“I’m the bigger guy,” said Fundora, who led 69-63 on all three judges’ cards. “Everyone says I’m a bully in the ring, so I thought I should start really bullying these guys. I just kept working on aggression my whole career and we’ve just been adding.”

It was a big week for Fundora, who was accepted into Harvard and then won the rematch with Tszyu. The first fight on March 30, 2024 was much closer, with Fundora emerging with a split-decision victory.

The Coachella, California, resident also had been the WBO champion, but that organization stripped him of his belt for not fighting mandatory challenger Xander Zayas.