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World champion training with Manny Pacquiao shares his bold thoughts on Mario Barrios’ fight

Originally posted on HITC | By James Sweetnam | Last updated Jul 18, 2025 12:09 PM ET

Manny Pacquiao’s latest training sessions have impressed one of boxing’s biggest names.

Pacquiao is set to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on July 19.

At 46, the eight-division world champion is a clear underdog, but Roy Jones Jr. believes he can pull off the upset, a bold opinion to which the current WBO super lightweight titleholder agrees.

Teofimo Lopez believes Manny Pacquiao has what it takes to win Mario Barrios

Photo by Melina Pizano/Getty Images

Teofimo Lopez has been keeping a close eye on Manny Pacquiao’s training camp and came away impressed with what he saw.

The current WBO super lightweight champion praised the Filipino legend, suggesting his experience could give him an edge against Barrios.

“What Manny Pacquiao is doing at this age, that’s different. High spirits, energised, motivated, determined. And I look forward to seeing him raise his hands again, become world champion once again.”

The question ahead of this fight isn’t whether Pacquiao still possesses skill – few would argue against that – but whether his body can keep up across all twelve rounds at this stage of his career.

Retired fighter backs Pacquiao to upset Barrios

Despite Barrios’ achievements, he hasn’t managed to win everyone over. One example is a former two-division champion who isn’t impressed – and is backing Pacquiao to pull off an upset.

Paulie Malignaggi believes the Filipino legend could shock the boxing world this weekend, going as far as to claim that Barrios ’su***’.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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