Manny Pacquiao fell short in his second comeback attempt against Mario Barrios, securing a draw in a fight many believe he ought to have won.
Manny Pacquiao has still not won since 2019 as his second comeback attempt against Mario Barrios ended in a draw.
His first came against Yordenis Ugas in 2021, and he was beaten by unanimous decision after taking on the Cuban on short notice following Errol Spence’s withdrawal.
The Filipino legend has now gone six years without a win, and has scored just one KO victory in the past 16 years, with his knockout drought beginning back in 2009.
Manny Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto in 2009 event featuring the only man to stop Oleksandr Usyk
In 2009, off the back of his dominant string of knockout wins over David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ricky Hatton, the 49-3-2 Pac-Man was matched against 34-1 Miguel Cotto.
Cotto had lost only to Antonio Margarito in an 11th-round stoppage in an otherwise close fight. The fight was controversial, as Margarito was later found guilty of tampering with his handwraps, which many believe he did for the Cotto fight, too. Cotto defeated him in a rematch.
Cotto had beaten Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, and Joshua Clottey, who was beaten by journeyman Gabriel Rosado in the back-end of his career.
Pacquiao faced Cotto in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, dropping him in the third and fourth rounds, before delivering a spectacular finish in the final round.
This would be Pacquiao’s last knockout win for nine years, with Pacquiao’s KO over Lucas Matthysse being the only stoppage win for Pac-Man in the last 16 years.
On the undercard Matvey Korobov defeated James Winchester to secure his eighth victory.
Korobov is one of very few who were able to defeat Oleksandr Usyk in the amateurs, and is the only man across Usyk’s combined 374 bouts to stop the Ukrainian.
Korobov and Usyk fought in the 2006 EABA European Championships semi-final, in which Korobov won the four-round fight after three rounds, stopping Usyk for the first and only time.
What happened to Oleksandr Usyk’s nightmare – Matvey Korobov?
After accruing an amateur record of around 300-12, Korobov turned pro in 2008.
He amassed 24 victories before facing the first hurdle of his career. In 2014 Korobov faced Andy Lee for the vacant WBO middleweight title.
The Russian was ahead on every scorecard going into the sixth round, but was caught with a shot by Lee that he was unable to recover from.
Lee, who now trains Joseph Parker, Hamzah Sheeraz, and Ben Whittaker, stopped Korobov in six rounds.
After the loss, Korobov got back to winning ways with four more victories, before losing to Jermall Charlo via unanimous decision.
His next fight would be a bizarre one, as he was announced the winner against Immanuwel Aleem, but a scoring error later showed the fight was a draw.
Unfortunately for the Russian, he would never taste victory again, as his next two fights would be his last, as he was stopped in two rounds by Chris Eubank Jr., and stopped in four by Ronald Ellis.