Barrios Could Still Fight Pacquiao

October 7, 2024

5 months

Mario Barrios’ trainer, Bob Santos, has not ruled out a Manny Pacquiao.

Barrios and Pacquiao were reportedly in talks for a fight that would have taken place by the back end of the year. Barrios is the current WBC Welterweight Champion, while Pacquiao aimed to make history by becoming the oldest welterweight champion. He is 45 and currently holds that record when he defeated Keith Thurman in 2019 at 40 to become the WBA Welterweight Champion. But talks did not result in a fight being made.

Barrios will now box Abel Ramos on November 15. He will fight on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson undercard, as Netflix will have its first-ever boxing fight. It is a massive stage, as Netflix reportedly has 275 million subscribers worldwide. Barrios knows a win will set up other unification fight, with possible bouts against Jaron Ennis or Eimantas Stanionis. Santos confirmed that the Netflix fight was a big opportunity and too good to turn down, as Barrios will have the chance to improve his crossover appeal.

Santos Reacts

“It doesn’t get bigger than Netflix…This opportunity came with Netflix and Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson. And this is not just a boxing event, but one of the biggest events. The numbers are going to be insane. Everybody loves Mike Tyson, and everyone wants to support Mike Tyson in a lot of ways. Obviously, there’s notoriety, especially with Jake Paul. This event – it’s enormous,” Santos said

Nevertheless, there is still hope that the Pacquiao fight can be made. Pacman’s manager, Sean Gibbons, has said he wants to box again. He was recently in England to watch Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois. Joshua was knocked out in the fifth round after Dubois dropped him four times. Gibbons confirmed that Pacman does want to fight in the UK, with Amir Khan and Conor Benn being possible opponents. However, a fight with Barrios is much bigger from a legacy point of view.

Will The Pacquiao Happen?

Pacquiao is an eight-division champion but would make further history with another win. It also gives Barrios a big payday, given Pacman’s huge fanbase. Barrios will fancy his chances of winning based on Manny’s last performance. The Filipino took on Rukiya Anpo in a three-round exhibition fight this year. While there was no official result, Manny was outboxed in for those three rounds. This raised question marks over whether it was safe for Manny to return at this stage of his career. Santos did not rule out a fight moving forward.

“The only reason Pacquiao [would] come back, obviously, at this stage is to make history, and it would have to be for a world title. So if we don’t take care of business and maintain the world championship, obviously, that fight would go out the window. So we gotta be 100% focused on Abel Ramos first,” Santos stated