Mario Barrios will be confident leading up to his fight with Manny Pacquiao, knowing that he has a victory over the man who defeated Pacquiao in his last boxing match.
The WBC Welterweight champion will put his title on the line against Manny Pacquiao in the legendary fighter’s first bout in four years.
Pacquiao has been granted a title match due to a specific WBC rule, which allows the 46-year-old to become one of the oldest world champions in history if he wins.
However, Mario Barrios is safe in the knowledge that he holds a victory over the man who beat Pacquiao before his retirement.
Manny Pacquiao lost to Yordenis Ugas before retiring from boxing
In what was claimed to be his final fight in boxing, Pacquiao suffered a disappointing defeat to Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.
This fight was a last-minute replacement for PacMan’s bout against the undefeated champion Errol Spence Jr, who suffered a torn retina just 10 days before the clash.
He was replaced by Ugas, the WBA Welterweight champion, whose own match on the undercard had to be cancelled due to injury as well.
Pacquiao was making his first comeback to the sport, having not fought in two years, with many presuming him retired.
There was some controversy going into the bout, as Pacquiao had been stripped of that very same belt a year earlier due to inactivity, before Ugas promptly defeated Abel Ramos for the title.
Sadly, Pacquiao’s lack of fights over the two years proved to be his undoing. He looked slow and one-dimensional, a far cry from his title win against Keith Thurman in 2019.
While he threw more punches than Ugas, he hit far fewer and paid the price, with PacMan’s stamina depleting quickly throughout the 12 rounds.
He was frustrated by the counter punches by Ugas, whose impressive jab kept the Filipino at bay. With neither man looking like ending it via knockout, the judges handed Ugas the unanimous decision win to retain his title.
Pacquiao called it a day a month later, announcing his retirement on social media. He reversed that decision four years later, but the loss to Ugas will be firmly in his mind as he prepares to face Barrios.
Mario Barrios beat Yordenis Ugas before setting up Manny Pacquiao’s comeback fight
Shortly after losing to Ugas, Pacquiao contemplated and even temporarily ended his boxing career.
In the meantime, Ugas also saw his career come to an end after a defeat at the hands of Pacquiao’s next opponent.
Barrios challenged Ugas two years after his victory over Pacquiao, although the Cuban has suffered a loss to Spence Jr shortly after the win over the eight-weight champion.
The final fight of his career came against Barrios, in a bout for the vacant WBC Interim Welterweight title in Las Vegas in 2023.
The action was all out, and both men went all in for all 12 rounds of the fight. An impressive jab from Barrios knocked Ugas down early on before both men traded huge blows, daring each other to go brawl in a fight that soon turned heated.
Barrios was the most aggressive of the two and caused some huge swelling on Ugas’ face, swelling his eye shut midway through the match.
It was an absolute war, but one that Barrios earned the unanimous decision victory and the title that Pacquiao will now challenge for.
Barrios will have the psychological advantage over the Filipino, knowing that he so impressively conquered the last man Pacquiao faced and suffered a defeat to.
Four years later, despite his incredible career, PacMan will be worried about battling Barrios on July 19.