{"id":276715,"date":"2025-07-20T06:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T06:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/276715\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T06:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T06:32:11","slug":"manny-pacquiao-stuns-boxing-world-but-is-denied-historic-world-title-as-gutted-legend-held-to-draw-thought-i-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/276715\/","title":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao stuns boxing world but is denied historic world title as gutted legend held to draw: ‘Thought I won’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manny Pacquiao left the boxing world in pure shock with his epic display, but was denied a history-defining world title.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pacquiao made his comeback at the grand old age of 46, four years on from his last professional defeat against Yordenis Ugas in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Pacquiao<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Pacquiao rolled back the years and had everyone in the Sin City arena mesmerisedCredit: Premier Boxing Champions<\/p>\n

There had been much concern for the health of the veteran, but he went through a gruelling training camp and announced a legend would take on the impossible.<\/p>\n

‘Pac Man’ was roared on by a raucous crowd as he took on younger and far fresher 30-year-old Mario Barrios<\/a> for the WBC welterweight world title.<\/p>\n

A Hall of Fame slot had already been secured<\/a>, but further history was on the line with the opportunity to become the first from the inductees to win a world title.<\/p>\n

And in the most incredible fashion, Pacquiao turned up and delivered a simply incredible display stunning the boxing world.<\/p>\n

He looked in supreme condition despite his age and went toe-to-toe with Barrios, and many believed he did enough to get the history-defining scores.<\/p>\n

But unfortunately the judges were to deny him a place in the record books, as a majority draw was declared.<\/p>\n

The scores read at 115-113 in Barrios’ favour, while the other two cards read at 114-114 even.<\/p>\n

It was a devastating moment for Pacquiao who said immediately after the decision: “I believe I won the fight.”<\/p>\n

As a result, Barrios retained his titles but the iconic multi-weight champion has vowed to fight on after his scintillating display.<\/p>\n

Pacquiao made an epic ring walk to The Script\u2019s Hall of Fame as he was roared into the arena by adoring fans.<\/p>\n

\"Pacquiao<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Pacquiao was denied history after a truly epic display saw him fight to a drawCredit: Premier Boxing Champions<\/p>\n

Chants of \u2018Manny\u2019 erupted as he stretched out and stepped back into the ring, a great with the weight of a nation and new age on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

Barrios towered over Pacquiao earlier on, another prior talking point, as the veteran looked to try and unload with his speed in the early stages.<\/p>\n

The Filipino had started brightly but was on the receiving end of some crisp work from the champion whenever he did close the gap and land.<\/p>\n

In the third round, the pair raced into life and began exchanging which drew huge cheers from the crowd, despite Pacquiao receiving a warning for a low blow.<\/p>\n

But Pacquiao looked in great shape and was surprisingly electric despite his age, and was causing Barrios problems to the impressed reaction of the boxing world.<\/p>\n

He was even targeting the body, a weakness which was identified by Gervonta Davis<\/a> in a previous clash with Barrios, and was well involved in the contest beyond the halfway point.<\/p>\n

Manny Pacquiao doesn’t hesitate before naming easiest fight of his career <\/p>\n

It was genuinely unbelievable as Pacquiao looked far superior to his display against Rukiya Anpo<\/a> in an exhibition last year, and was putting together his punches with tenacity.<\/p>\n

After eight rounds, Pacquiao still incredibly looked busy and was trying his best to keep pace with a stuttering Barrios who was almost stunned by his rival\u2019s level of activity.<\/p>\n

As the action crept towards the latter stages, Pacquiao had an issue with his glove at the start of the tenth which bought him further time.<\/p>\n

Barrios had marginally outlanding the veteran with just two rounds left, but Pacquiao was bravely going toe-to-toe and was doing more than enough to win the contest.<\/p>\n

He was brimming with confidence as he charged out of his corner for the final period, somehow filled with energy.<\/p>\n

And it felt like a seismic and stunning moment was about to unfold as the final bell rang, with noone expecting Pacquiao\u2019s level to be quite so high.<\/p>\n

The elite all-time greatness was there for all to see, but unfortunately it wasn\u2019t enough to clinch his victory.<\/p>\n

For now he will ponder what could have been, but he could be back again trying to defy the odds.<\/p>\n

Talks have been held over a historic rematch with bitter rival Floyd Mayweather<\/a>, who beat him in the \u2018Fight of the Century\u2019 in 2015.<\/p>\n

And after his efforts in the squared circle, the boxing community may now have a different attitude to any new return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao left the boxing world in pure shock with his epic display, but was denied a history-defining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1935,4496,27372,27373,104465,104464,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-276715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-news","10":"tag-manny-pacquiao","11":"tag-mario-barrios","12":"tag-pacquiao-comeback","13":"tag-pacquiao-vs-barrios","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114884166234436314","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}