There’s been plenty of moments where Barrios could have really put his foot on the gas and just win the rounds more decisively but he just kept waiting and allowing Pac to have a breather. Do you think Barrios intentionally held back on Pac or did it really come down to Pac fighting a lot better than most expected and Barrios being unsure what to do?
After watching that,uh, what was it,,fight? I believe the outcome was preordained . Barrios did absolutely nothing for 12 rounds but watch Manny . This fight was as legitimate as MikeTyson vs Jake Paul, a PPV rip off masquerading as a fight
Barrios has never been anything special. The dude is a natural 154 pounder cutting to 147 who got KOd by a 130 pound Gervonta Davis.
Barrios is just not that good. He had a draw in his last fight too, against a mediocre fighter who lost 3 of his last 5 fights.
It was the first really big event Barrios headlined. Even guys like Hagler got nervous during his first big "super fight" with Duran. That said, I don't know how good Barrios is to begin with. I saw a few rounds in the car last night. I haven't seen the whole thing yet. But Manny reminded me of doughy Duran when he was fighting guys like Pazienza. Manny is old. And the rounds I saw were pretty uneventful. I think Manny picked the easiest name guy he thought he could beat. Still, nothing much was happening. Manny needs to call it a day. Barrios got a nice check. I'll just leave it at that.
It wasn't about Barrios's ability, it was about his effort or lack of, the guy definitely looked like he was holding back. And for the record, I'd never seen a championship fight that had so much mutual affection, glove touching and hugging. But hey, fixed fights in boxing...naaah can't happen
Barrios does not have a championship, step on the gas mindset. He has reasonably good skills but does not have the mental game. I thought Manny would get destroyed. Happily, I was wrong. However, this was more due to Barrios lack of ability than anything special Manny did.
