Boxing fans were left furious on Saturday night after Manny Pacquiao‘s return to the ring at age 46 ended in a draw.
Pacquiao put forth a valiant effort against the much younger Mario Barrios, 30, in the WBC welterweight title fight, but was ultimately unable to regain the belt as the bout was scored 115-113 (in favor of Barrios), 114-114 and 114-114.
And fans were livid at the judges’ decision to rule the fight a majority draw and keep the belt with Barrios.
‘Manny Pacquiao won that fight with ease. These judges are hot garbage,’ one wrote on X.
‘Pacquiao was robbed.. a draw give me a break!,’ another said.
A third chimed in: ‘NAH DRAW???? PACQUIAO WON THAT.’
Manny Pacquiao valiantly battled on Saturday night in his return to the ring against Mario Barrios
The fight was deemed a draw and Barrios retained the title belt as fans booed
Pacquiao went the distance against Barrios despite not fighting before in almost four years
And a fourth said: ‘Majority Draw is such BS. Pacquiao won that fight. Barrios even knew it.’
Pacquiao, who had last fought in 2021, was enshrined into the International Boxing Hall of Fame last month and was trying to break his own record for oldest welterweight champion.
Pacquiao was 40 when he emerged in 2019 split decision over Keith Thurman.
However, Barrios had a strong final three rounds of the fight to stave off his opponent and ultimately retain his title.
Barrios, a 30-year-old from San Antonio, was a -275 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.
He hoped to bounce back from a split-decision draw on Nov. 15 against Abel Ramos, but didn’t exactly come away with an emphatic victory in improving to 29-2-2. The heavily pro-Pacquiao crowd loudly booed the decision.
Pacquiao’s resume includes 12 world championships in eight divisions.
He now is 62-9-2 and said right after the fight this likely wasn’t his last.
Earlier in the night, Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) retained his WBC super welterweight title when Tim Tszyu (25-3) didn’t come out for the eighth round in the co-main event.
Fundora floored Tszyu with a left hand in the first round and dominated the action with 118 power punches, according to Compubox, by repeatedly backing down the Australian.
