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| Mario Barrios, in what could be his biggest fight yet, settled for a draw against a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao. AP |
MANILA—At age 46, Manny Pacquiao showed that he still has it, but Mario Barrios did barely enough to keep his title belt.
Barrios retained the WBC welterweight title but in an unconventional manner as he settled for a majority draw with the returning Pacquiao on Sunday (Philippine Time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In his record-setting 16th bout at the fabled boxing mecca, Pacquiao was on track of a huge comeback after Barrios' jabs dictated the tempo early on.
Barrios successfully kept Pacquiao at bay for most of the early rounds, using his height and reach advantage to connect on jabs to frustrate his opponent's charge.
Come Rounds 7-9, though, Pacquiao showed a vintage performance, connecting on power punches that rocked Barrios a bit to the delight of the sold-out crowd.
Barrios regained some composure and went toe-to-toe with Pacquiao in the last three rounds.
Max DeLuca actually gave Barrios a 115-113 win in his scorecard, but the other two judges, Steve Weisfeld and Tim Cheatham, both had it 114-114.
Pacquiao now has three professional stalemates in his otherwise illustrious boxing career against 62 wins and eight losses.
On the other hand, Barrios now has two draws against 29 wins and two defeats.
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