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Esther Lin / Premier Boxing ChampionsLAS VEGAS – Eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao and WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios each made weight Friday as Pacquiao seeks at age 46 to join Bernard Hopkins and George Foreman as the only world champions older than 45.
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Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), stepped on the scale at 146.8 pounds while Barrios 29-2-1 (18 KOs) came in at 146.2 pounds for the pay-per-view (Prime Video/PPV.COM) bout at MGM Grand, where Pacquiao returns after a four-year layoff to fight for the 16th time.
The card also features the WBC junior-middleweight title bout in the co-main event, and champion Sebastian Fundora weighed 152.6 pounds for the second defense of his belt since winning it in the horrifically bloody March 2024 bout against former WBO champion Tim Tszyu of Australia. Tszyu weighed 153.2 pounds for the 154lbs bout.
In the pay-per-view opener, former two-division champion Brandon Figueroa came in at the featherweight limit 126 pounds for his bout against three-time title challenger Joet Gonzalez, who weighed in at 125 pounds.
The weigh-in was preceded by the withdrawal of 140lbs contender Angel Fierro from his scheduled rematch versus Mexican countryman and former champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.
Premier Boxing Champions moved swiftly to keep the popular Cruz, 27-3-1 (18 KOs), on the card, moving Omar Salcido 20-2 (14 KOs) up from the undercard to take the pay-per-view match.
Salcido is coming off a January loss to IBF mandatory lightweight title contender Andy Cruz of Cuba, and he previously stopped Chris Colbert in a 2024 ProBox TV bout.
Cruz weighed in at 138.2 pounds and Salcido weighed 139.4.
Minutes after Barrios, 30, weighed in, his trainer Bob Santos told BoxingScene he’s confident the younger fighter’s strength, size and jab will pace the 6-feet-tall Barrios to the victory.
“We’re in great shape and I’m very sure we’re going to come out with the victory,” Santos said of betting-favorite Barrios. “We’re going to start with a hot and heavy jab and force him to come to us. When he tastes Mario Barrios’ punching power, he’s going to realize it’s a little bit different than even when he was in there with [former 154 lbs champion Antonio] Margarito. People don’t realize Mario’s bigger than Margarito. When he walks in the ring, he’ll be a very big guy with no rehydration clause. Barrios is a damn big puncher.
“This is a gladiator sport. When you sign the contract, you know what you sign up for. We’ll trudge [Pacquiao] into deep waters if we don’t stop him in the middle rounds.”
One fighter who has fought both Pacquiao and Barrios is former welterweight champion Keith Thurman, who said he’s concerned by Pacquiao’s four-year layoff since losing to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas.
“That’s what makes me worry about Pacquiao. Luckily for him, Barrios doesn’t have the most notorious defense,” Thurman said. “Due to that, the doors are slightly open, and the veteran Pacquiao is going to be able find those pockets.”
Thurman is in wait for the Fundora-Tszyu winner after getting injured and withdrawing from a planned Tszyu fight in March 2024 when he was replaced by Fundora.
“Fundora got blessed when I got injured… this has been my fight,” Thurman said.
Full weights for the card are below.
10 rounds, super featherweight
Mark Magsayo (129lbs) vs. Jorge Mata (129lbs)
10 rounds, super bantamweight
David Picasso (125.8lbs) vs. Kyonosuke Kameda (126 lbs)
10 rounds, super featherweight
Gary Russell Jnr (131.6lbs) vs. Hugo Castaneda (135.8lbs)
