Home » Pacquiao vs Barrios 2025 fight is on! What you need to know

Pacquiao vs Barrios 2025 fight is on! What you need to know

Pacquiao vs Barrios 2025 is happening! Two fighters from different generations collide at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on July 19.

The boxing legend known as “Pac-Man” eyes another world title after four years, while the American champion known as “El Azteca” seeks validation in his bid to retain his world title.

PRE-FIGHT HYPE & BACKGROUND

Take a look how these two fighters stack up against each other:

TALE OF THE TAPE

Many Pacquiao	Category	Mario Barrios
Pac-Man	Nickname	El Azteca
46	Age	30
166 cm (5-foot-5 1/2)	Height	178 cm (5-foot-10)
67 (170 cm)	Reach	71 (180 cm)
Southpaw	Stance	Orthodox
62-8-2 (39 KOs)	Pro Record	29-2-1 (18 KOs)
72	Total Fights	32
498	Total Rounds Fought	198
1995	Pro debut	2013
July 28, 2024 (exhibition) draw vs Anpo	Last Fight (Pro or exhibition)	November 15, 2024: Split draw vs Ramos
Challenger; 8-division world champion	Title Status	Reigning WBC Welterweight champion
#5 by WBC at 147 lb	World Ranking	#3 by The Ring welterweight
5 fights in last 6.5 years	Recent Activity	5 fights in past 3.5 years
9 rounds	Average last fights	11.2 rounds

WHY PACQUIAO PICKED BARRIOS AS COMEBACK OPPONENT?

Pacquiao has repeatedly stated that he missed boxing after a four-year hiatus.

While it is true that his passion has never wanted despite getting involved in a political career during his absence, “Pac-Man” knows there are some personal stakes involved for pushing through this fight.

Granted he already holds the oldest world champion record at 40 years old, the boxer-politician seeks Barrios’ World Boxing Council welterweight title to break history at 46.

Above all, Pacquiao is also challenging himself that he still has it four years after he lost his last pro fight to Yordenis Ugas in August 2021.

More than anything, “Pac-Man” also assured his fans and boxing enthusiasts in general that he and Barrios will provide an action-packed fight.

BARRIOS: UNDERRATED OR OVERMATCHED?

Barrios is a 30-year-old fighter out of San Antonio, Texas, who is also known for his Mexican and Aztec heritage.

Interestingly, this has led his handlers to coin “El Azteca” as his moniker.

The American fighter started boxing early, training at the East Side Boys and Girls Club in San Antonio before he won his first national tournament at 13 years old.

Barrios turned professional in 2013 at 18 before he went off for a 26-0 win-loss start.

He claimed his first world title by beating Batyr Akhmedov by unanimous decision on September 28, 2019, for the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) super lightweight (regular) title.

The San Antonio native lost consecutive fights against Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman but he bounced back with three-straight wins.

Fast forward to September 30, 2023, when Barrios challenged Ugas – Pacquiao’s tormentor – for the WBC welterweight title.

“El Azteca” dropped Ugas twice en route to a unanimous decision victory and claimed the interim WBC champion.

The WBC then demoted Terence Crawford to “champion in recess” in May 2024, thus elevating Barrios as the regular welterweight king.

Barrios earned a split decision win over Abel Ramos on October 21, 2024, in his first title defense, setting up a title fight against Pacquiao.

Pacquiao may have the countless titles, but don’t count Barrios out as youth takes on experience once again.

PACQUIAO’S LEGACY ON THE LINE

Some fans are hyping this bout as saying that Pacquiao’s legacy is on the line after he agreed to make his comeback official.

However, boxing historians assured that the legacy of “Pac-Man” would be firmly placed among the history books regardless of the result of this fight.

CAN BARRIOS’ TITLE ADDS TO PAC-MAN LEGACY?

Category	Accomplishment/Recognition
World titles	12 major world titles across 8 weight divisions
Weight divisions with titles	Flyweight, Super Bantamweight, Featherweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Super Welterweight
Unique Record	Only boxer in history to win world titles in eight different weight divisions
Lineal Championships	Lineal champion in 5 weight classes (Flyweight, Featherweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight)
Major Sanctioning Bodies	Won titles under WBC, WB, IBF, and WBO
Fighter of the Decade	Won in 2000 from Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)
Fighter of the Year	2006, 2008
Guinness World Records	Most weight divisions won, oldest world champion (40 years old)
Top P4P (Pound-for-Pound) rankings	Top 3 in P4P rankings from 2003 to 2011 by ESPN, The Ring, and BWAA
Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes	Last Fight (Pro or exhibition)
Challenger; 8-division world champion	#2 (highest ranking) in 2015
Philippine National Honors	Order of Lakandula, Congressional Medal of Achievement, Senate Medal of Excellence
5 fights in last 6.5 years	Recent Activity
Hall of Fame	Inducted by International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canasota, New York officially on June 8, 2025

NEXT TOP 5 PACQUIAO COMEBACK MOMENTS

Listing all the memorable fights in Pacquiao’s checkered career may take several pages, and some fans won’t mind it at all.

We recently shared some of “Pac-Man’s top five comeback moments in boxing history to recall those great times.

A win over Barrios would add to these comeback moments, but limiting the list to just five may not please most fans.

What we can do is add five more moments that were not shown in our earlier list. Feel free to add these and inter-change it to the five others we earlier provided and make your list:

Pacquiao vs. Ledwaba (2001) – Where it all began

Pacquiao was tapped as a late replacement to challenge for the IBF Super Bantamweight title against South Africa’s Lehlohonolo Ledwaba on June 23, 2001. Pac-Man would surprise the boxing world with a technical knockout win as a 22-year-old.

Pacquiao vs. Cotto (2009) – Winning his 7th in style

Pacquiao overcame a stronger fighter in Miguel Cotto, a Puerto Rican boxing great, to claim another world title in his seventh weight class with another TKO win.

Pacquiao vs. Margarito (2010) – Speed tops size

Pacquiao was definitely outsized against the bigger Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010, but the Filipino champion even knocked down the Mexican-American fighter en route to a unanimous decision victory to claim the vacant WBC super welterweight title.

Pacquiao vs. Bradley II (2014) – PacMan gets revenge

A controversial loss in their first fight in June 2012 didn’t stop Pacquiao from seeking payback. Pac-Man failed to knock him out, but he posted another unanimous decision win on April 12, 2014 to regain the WBO welterweight title.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas (2016) – Still a champ at 37!

Pacquiao proved he just ages like fine wine, and he soundly defeated American Jessie Vargas via UD on November 5, 2016, to win the WBO welterweight title as a 37 year old and after a six-month sabbatical.

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