LAS VEGAS - For a brief moment, Mario Barrios was stumped.
Partway through the final prefight press conference for Barrios’ Saturday battle with Manny Pacquiao, host Ray Flores had asked Barrios if he had a favorite Pacquiao moment.
The San Antonio native paused for a second, wracking his brain before alighting on an answer.
“I was a big [Juan Manuel] Marquez fan growing up, so I watched all of their wars as I was coming up,” he began. “I think I was like 16 or 17 when Marquez knocked him out. And it was here at the MGM. And that was one of my favorites.”
So there you have it. Mario Barrios’ favorite Manny Pacquiao moment was when the Filipino lay, face-first and unconscious, on the ring floor in December 2012.
Out of context, it might have appeared a harsh diss, but not in this instance. Barrios wears his Aztec heritage on his sleeve and is a fan of fellow Mexican fighters, but he is not in the business of disrespecting his Hall-of-Fame opponent. He’s just a proud Aztec warrior looking to gain revenge for some of his fallen compatriots against a highly respected rival.
“He has had so many victories over so many Mexican fighters,” he said. “And now, I get to be a part of that, but on the other side.”
The 30-year-old Barrios, 29-2-1 (18 KOs), will be defending his WBC welterweight strap against the Filipino, who is returning to the ring at age 46 following four years away and six years after his last win. Pacquiao’s age and inactivity is naturally a major plotline but neither Barrios nor trainer Bob Santos is letting it color the team’s preparation.
“We're prepared for the best Manny Pacquiao,” said Santos. “We're not sleeping on him. Like I said, I picked Keith Thurman to beat him [in 2019]. Lo and behold, I’m there ringside, Keith Thurman’s on the deck in the first round. In the 12th round, they're raising Manny Pacquiao's hand. But we're not going to allow that to happen. On July 19, with all due respect to the icon, Mario Barrios will be victorious.”
Perhaps the biggest reason to doubt Pacquiao’s ability to recapture his old magic is just how magical and unique he was at his peak. He was renowned for being an exceptionally difficult boxer to time, for his constant movement, blizzards of activity, and punches from unconventional angles in unpredictable bursts. Whether or not Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), can show any of that on Saturday, Barrios and Santos have been training as if he can and will.
“It wasn’t an easy style to try to copy in training camp,” said Barrios. “So we were trying to get as many different southpaw looks as we could. But I feel like we did a really good job, and I feel like we got the necessary rounds in.”
Always affable and approachable, Barrios is nonetheless ready to be done with the pre-fight ceremony and anxious to walk in the ring for a fight that he believes will see him triumph over a legend.
“I think we have a really good game plan going into this fight, and I’m just ready to step in there Saturday,” he said. “I’ve been tired of answering questions and doing all the press. I’m ready for war and yeah, like I said, just counting down the days until we step in there on Saturday.
“I bring my indigenous roots in there with me, and I always like to showcase that. It’s something I feel whenever I walk to the ring, hearing those ancestral drums, and I’m looking forward to walking out and bringing it here at the MGM.”
