There was controversy in Las Vegas on Saturday night as Mario Barrios retained his WBC World Welterweight title against Manny Pacquiao.
Many fans feel Pacquiao did enough to get a win over Barrios, however, the 46-year-old was unable to defy the odds.
Despite a 16-year age gap between the fighters, the meeting in Las Vegas was a largely entertaining one. In what was Pacquiao’s first professional outing since 2021, the veteran performed well.
However, there was one fighter who was not impressed with the fight from either man.
Keith Thurman blasts result between Manny Pacquiao and Mario Barrios
Keith Thurman is a mutual opponent of both Pacquiao and Barrios. Having beaten the current champion and losing to the veteran, Thurman said he was rooting for Pacquiao.
However, after the fight had reached its conclusion, Thurman was seemingly unimpressed by what he saw.
When Thurman was asked by Seconds Out how he scored the fight, Thurman responded, “It doesn’t matter how I scored it. I couldn’t score it. The Pacquiao fans scream with every punch, you can’t score a Pacquiao fight.”
“There were no knockdowns, so nobody wins, how about that?” Thurman added.
When asked if he would answer a phone call to fight Pacquiao, Thurman said, “I don’t pick up phones, I pick up checks.”
Despite Barrios being able to retain his title, Thurman seemingly didn’t see anything impressive in his former opponent’s performance. “There’s nothing special about Mario Barrios. He’s just good.”
Thurman went on to say that in regard to fans feeling Pacquiao won the fight, that it is only the judges’ opinions that matter.
Mario Barrios credits ‘old man’ Manny Pacquiao’s strength
In an interview after the fight with Fight Hub TV, Barrios seemingly had no ill feelings towards his veteran opponent.
When asked who hit harder, Gervonta Davis, who knocked Barrios out, or Pacquiao, the welterweight champion says he doesn’t compare power.
However, Barrios went on to say, “That old man is strong as —-.” The American then added that he was aware of the danger Pacquiao possessed ‘from round one.’
“I learned a lot tonight,” Barrios said. “That’s that high-speed chess and, it’s like, playing chess with someone with his type of experience can only benefit me.”