Manny Pacquiao was denied by slim margins as he attempted to dethrone WBC World Welterweight champion Mario Barrios on Saturday night.
Despite fans feeling ‘Pac-Man’ had done enough in Las Vegas, Pacquiao and Barrios fought to a majority draw. The result meant that it was consecutive draws for the champion, who retained his title.
Pacquiao would have moved up the list of boxing’s oldest world champions with a win over Barrios, but could not achieve the underdog win.
The 46-year-old surprised many with his performance against Barrios, with one aspect in particular impressing veteran trainer Bob Santos.
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Bob Santos impressed with Manny Pacquiao against his fighter Mario Barrios
Following the conclusion of the fight between Barrios and Pacquiao, boxing coach and trainer of the champion Santos spoke to Pro Boxing Fans.
Although Santos was adamant that his fighter was the victor against Pacquiao, he did reveal one aspect of the veteran’s game he was surprised with.
Santos said when asked what part of Pacquiao’s game surprised him, “The stamina.”
The coach of Barrios went on to say, “I was surprised that in the 10th, 11th, 12th round he was still able to withstand some of the punches and jabs Mario was hitting him with.”
Santos then admitted that he wasn’t all too surprised with Pacquiao’s conditioning, as he knows he ‘lives a pretty clean life.’
“In one way it’s a surprise, in another way, he keeps himself in pretty good condition.”
Bob Santos feels Manny Pacquiao benefited from crowd noise
Feeling that Barrios was the winner of the welterweight title fight, Santos felt that Pacquiao benefited from the crowd noise in the bout from ‘Pac-Man’ fans.
“I thought Manny was doing what he could towards the end of the fight to try and steal rounds, and obviously, he had the crowd behind him.”
Santos added, “Sometimes that can influence a lot of things. They’re cheering whether he lands a punch or he doesn’t, and you know, we’re all humans, so we can be influenced by things of that nature.”
One judge in the bout had Barrios winning the bout with a score of 115-113. As for the other two scoring officials, they had the fight even at 114 points apiece.