MARIO Barrios is still pinching himself that a fight against one of boxing’s premier names has arrived out of the blue, right into his lap. The next mission for Mario is to get his game brain locked in and focus on defeating Manny Pacquiao.
The pair meet on July 19 in Las Vegas and there was nothing but respect as they posed for photos and answered questions at the Caleb Plant-Jose Armando Resendiz fight over the weekend. As Errol Spence previously identified, amiable Pac Man has a subtle way of lulling fighters in with compliments and cuddles, before lighting them up in the ring. Barrios beware.
“This is huge for me, this is huge for boxing,” he said when asked if the pay-per-view mountaintop that started with Gervonta, then went through Thurman, has now been reached.
“A living legend coming back out of retirement to fight me for my WBC title. It’s an honour to be defending against him. I’m expecting one of the hardest fights of my career and I think that’s exactly what people are going to see on July 19th.”
Barrios must put aside the admiration and respect if the 30-year-old intends to leave with that WBC belt still strapped around his waist. Turning that off, come fight week, and zoning in on beating up the 46-year-old veteran is a must.
“Nothing but respect for him, nothing but respect for everything he’s accomplished and done in his career, but at the end of the day, he’s in there, he’s trying to take what’s mine. Once that bell rings, it’s just business,” assured the Arizona fighter.
“I think everybody knows what type of fight Manny brings. Everybody knows that I never shy away from an action-packed fight. I think July 19th is going to be nothing short of an exciting night for boxing and the world of sports.”
Those comments were once accurate, but could now arguably be changed to “everybody knows what Manny brought”, as the current version might be a whole lot different if exhibitions during his lengthy layoff tell us anything.
Pacquiao has been absent for so long that he will have reached the five-year mark, making him eligible to enter the Hall of Fame just before his return. The portents for the Filipino southpaw are concerning. Respectful Barrios may have just turned the mind games back on his opponent and could be on the verge of taking the scalp of his career.
