A sold-out MGM Grand roared all night as an ageless icon, two title rematches and a swarm of all-action contenders shared the same welter-weathered stage in Las Vegas. Once the smoke cleared, the scorecards and corner decisions told very different stories for each champion on the marquee.
Mario Barrios and Manny Pacquiao spent twelve rounds trading momentum in bursts that were as hard to separate as the scorecards that followed. Pacquiao’s trademark raids won him stretches of the early fight, but the 46-year-old’s pace dipped after the tenth, and Barrios’ heavier jab-hook combinations banked the championship rounds. Judges returned a majority draw (114-114, 114-114, 115-113), allowing the WBC belt to stay with Barrios while Pacquiao’s late-career gamble ends in stalemate.
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Sebastian Fundora’s seven-inch height edge and never-stop volume finally broke Tim Tszyu’s resistance in their junior-middle sequel. The Australian was already cut and three rounds down when he emptied the tank with a round-seven surge, yet Fundora met fire with twice the output, pinning Tszyu to the ropes with uppercuts and body shots. Trainer Glen Jennings waved it off before round eight, giving “The Towering Inferno” a TKO7 defense.
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Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz dialed back the reckless clashes and simply out-punched late substitute Omar Salcido, sweeping ten rounds behind a thudding jab-to-body-overhand-right pattern and a pair of knockdowns to win 100-88, 99-89, 99-89.
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Brandon Figueroa escaped with 116-112 (×2) and 115-113 cards over Joet Gonzalez in a featherweight grinder that many at ringside had even after nine. Gonzalez’s tighter counters shaded the middle frames, but Figueroa’s trademark inside bursts and body work over the final three convinced two judges.
Also in the undercard, former featherweight champ Gary Russell Jr. looked sharp after three years away, flooring Hugo Castaneda twice in round 2 and once with a body shot in 10 for the KO. David Picasso kept an unbeaten record many felt he lost, edging Kyonosuke Kameda (98-92, 97-93, 95-95) despite being out-worked.
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