The WBC promoted Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) to the official welterweight title, a move the World Boxing Council had expected after it tagged Terence Crawford “retired champion” when he moved up to 154 pounds.
The WBC should have promoted Barrios to official champion after giving Crawford the “retired champion” tag, but for some reason they waited.
While a shot at the WBC 147-pound title wouldn't be an ideal route for Barrios, he's not going to turn it down. If Manny Pacquiao comes out of retirement to face Barrios or Devin Haney moves up from 140 pounds, the 29-year-old Barrios could make big money.
Barrios beat Yordenis Ugas to win the interim WBC title last year and defended it once against Fabian Maidana. Prior to that, Barrios defeated Giovanny Santiago.
Barrios retains the WBC belt and could challenge IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis for a unification bout if he so desires.
Ennis' promoter, Eddie Hearn, wants to set up a fight with Barrios — a high-risk fight for Barrios, but one with high reward — and if a bout with the 45-year-old Pacquiao or a fight with Haney doesn't come to fruition, a unification bout with Ennis could be his best money-making bet.
Barrios is not good enough to compete with the best fighters, so unless management is careful with his matchups, it is unlikely he will be able to hold the WBC title for long without being defeated. His last fight against Fabian Maidana exposed Barrios' weaknesses as he had to fight a tough battle to beat the second-place favorite.
Barrios has won his last three fights since losing consecutive bouts to Keith Thurman and Gervonta “Tank” Davis, getting knocked out in the 11th round by Tank in 2021 and then being dominated by Thurman in 2022, losing a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision.
At the time the bout took place, Thurman had been out of the ring for nearly three years and was on a different level than Barrios.
