Manny Pacquiao Returns to the Ring to Face Mario Barrios
The legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao has announced his return from retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship on July 19 in Las Vegas.
“I’m back! On July 19, I’m returning to the ring to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Let’s make history,” Pacquiao wrote on his Instagram account.
Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao, who retired from boxing in 2021, served as a senator in his native Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He also ran for president in 2022.
Known for his speed and knockout power, Pacquiao struggled in his last sanctioned fight, losing by unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas for the WBA welterweight championship in 2021. Subsequently, he competed in an exhibition fight in July 2024 against kickboxer Rukiya Anpo at Super RIZIN 3. Rumors about his return to boxing have followed him since that exhibition fight, many of them linking him to a match with Barrios.
Pacquiao is the only boxer to have won world championships in a record eight weight divisions, and he was also the oldest welterweight world champion in history, at 40 years old in 2019.
The southpaw, who has 62 wins, eight losses and two draws in a 72-fight career, was also elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.
Barrios, a Mexican-American boxer, has 29 wins in 32 fights, with 18 by knockout. His last fight was against Abel Ramos on the undercard of Jake Paul’s decision victory over Mike Tyson last November. He won the WBC interim title in September 2023 by defeating Ugas and was elevated to full champion in June 2024 after Terence Crawford was designated “champion in recess” by the WBC after moving up to 154 pounds to face Israil Madrimov. Barrios’ only two losses have been against Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman.
The co-main event will be a rematch between unified super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs), and Tim Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs). They previously faced each other on March 30, 2024. Tszyu was originally scheduled to face Thurman, but an injury forced Thurman to withdraw less than two weeks before the scheduled date. Fundora stepped in as a last-minute replacement and won by split decision in an upset.
The card was originally scheduled for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but a previously scheduled Lady Gaga concert has moved Pacquiao’s return to the neighboring MGM Grand Garden Arena, where he made his US debut and won his first major world title against Lehlohonolo Ledwaba on June 23, 2001.
