Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao after his WBC welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 19, 2025. Esther Lin, PBC
MANILA — Manny Pacquiao defied expectations in his boxing return after four years.
Now 46 years old, the "Pacman" still displayed flashes of his old form on Sunday (Manila time) in Las Vegas, but the Filipino ring icon just fell short of reclaiming the WBC world welterweight championship.
Instead, he battled Mario Barrios to a majority draw in their 12-round bout, with the Mexican-American ending up retaining the title.
READ: In boxing comeback, inspired Pacquiao battles Barrios to majority draw
"Tonight, I know many enjoyed the fight. I know the decision is not good for me. I'm sad, but I did my best," the former Philippine Senator recollected after the match. "Having not fought for four years, I'm happy with my performance tonight."
Judge Max De Luca scored the match 115-113 in favor of Barrios, while Tim Cheatham and Steve Wiesfiled both tallied 114-114, resulting in the fight being decided as a majority draw.
"I thought, after 12 rounds, I won the fight," Pacquiao said. "My analysis was, I won eight rounds. I'm disappointed with the announcement that it is a draw."
Pacquiao was indeed ahead even until the 9th round's bell rang, with Cheatham, De Luca, and Weisfeld scoring 87-84, 86-85, and 87-84, respectively.
It was not until the last three rounds that Barrios was able to catch up and salvage a draw to eventually retain his belt, as all three judges were in favor of the 30-year-old's side in that span, giving him a 10-9 score in each of Rounds 10, 11, and 12.
Despite this, boxing's only eight-division world champion reflected that he still did well given the circumstances he went through.
"For four years of not fighting, and then training for two months, it was not enough," Pacquiao said. "We started late because of the election in the Philippines."
"Although my performance was good tonight, I'm not satisfied with my combinations. I should've thrown a lot more punches and been more aggressive to knock him out," he added.
Moving forward, given that Pacquiao is analyzing the lessons from his comeback bout, can fans expect this return to not be a one-time thing?
"Don't worry. Pacman is back, so I'm still here," he said.
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