Mario Barrios isn’t shying from the boos. On July 19 in Las Vegas, the 30-year-old Texan will try to do to Manny Pacquiao what Larry Holmes once did to Muhammad Ali - dismantle a legend and silence the nostalgia. “I’m already getting a shitload of backlash, but it comes with the territory,” Barrios told reporters at Saturday’s kickoff presser for their Prime Video welterweight title fight.
Barrios understands why Pacquiao picked him. The eight-division icon turns 47 this December and is chasing Hopkins-and-Foreman lore as a champion past 45. Team Pacquiao see a stylistic window; Barrios sees an insult. “He felt my style was perfect for him—he’s in for a rude awakening,” the WBA secondary titlist warned. “I’m preparing as if I’m fighting a prime Manny.”
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Respect mixes with ruthless intent. Barrios grew up watching Pacquiao pay-per-views, yet his favorite memory is Juan Manuel Marquez’s thunderbolt knockout in their fourth fight - Pacquiao facedown and motionless. Thirteen years later, Barrios could become the man who delivers the next defining image. “It’s kill or be killed,” he said. “He wanted this fight. My job is to defend my title and raise my profile in a division starving for big names.”
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Image Credit: The RIng