Mario Barrios

Summary

Mario Thomas Barrios (born May 18, 1995)[1] is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) super lightweight title from 2019 to June 2021. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's ninth-best active super lightweight by The Ring.[2]

Mario Barrios
Born (1995-05-18) May 18, 1995 (age 28)
Other namesEl Azteca
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Reach71 in (180 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights30
Wins28
Wins by KO18
Losses2

Professional career edit

Barrios turned professional in 2013. On May 11, 2019, Barrios faced Juan Jose Velasco. Barrios got the KO win via a spectacular body shot in the second round.[3]

WBA (Regular) super-lightweight champion edit

Barrios vs. Akhmedov edit

On September 28, 2019, Barrios was victorious against undefeated Batyr Akhmedov by unanimous decision, with scores of 114–112, 115–111, 116–111, to win the vacant WBA (Regular) super lightweight title in a tough contest on the undercard of Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter, in which Barrios dropped Akhmedov twice in the fourth and twelfth rounds but took considerable punishment resulting in most of his face being swollen.[4][5] The decision was considered controversial by many pundits and observers.[6]

Barrios vs. Karl edit

On October 31, 2020, in front of his hometown crowd at Alamodrome in San Antonio, Texas on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Léo Santa Cruz, Barrios defended his WBA (Regular) title with a sixth-round technical knockout victory against Ryan Karl. In the sixth round, an accidental head clash caused a bad cut over Karl’s right eye, and blood poured down his face. After the cut was examined by the ringside doctor, the fight resumed and the two men immediately went hard after each other, until Barrios dropped Karl during with a pair of left hooks to the chin during a fierce exchange. As soon as Karl went down, the referee called off the fight at 2 minutes, 23 seconds. At the time of the stoppage, Barrios led 48–47, 49–46, 49–46 on the judges' scorecards.[7]

Barrios vs. Davis edit

Barrios faced fellow undefeated Gervonta Davis on Showtime PPV on June 26, 2021, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.[8] Davis knocked Barrios down twice in the eighth round, and again in the eleventh round en route to an eleventh-round technical knockout victory, handing Barrios his first professional loss.[9] At the time of the stoppage, Barrios was down 97–91 and 96–92 twice on the judges' scorecards.[10]

Move up to Welterweight edit

Barrios vs. Thurman edit

After the loss to Davis, Barrios decided to move up a weight-class and challenge the former-unified (WBA and WBC) welterweight champion Keith "One Time" Thurman, who, like him, was coming off of a loss.

Their bout took place at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on 5 February 2022, with their fight also serving as a WBC welterweight world title eliminator.[11]

And after 12 rounds of boxing, Barrios lost a clear unanimous decision with scores of 117–111 and two scores of 118–110.[12]

WBC Continental Americas Welterweight (Minor) Title

Barrios vs. Santiago edit

A year after the second consecutive defeat of his professional boxing career, Barrios then faced Puerto Rican Jovanie "El Lobito" Santiago in a welterweight under-card fight for the O'Shaquie "Ice Water Shock" Foster vs Rey Vargas pay-per-view bout on 11 February 2023, at Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

The fight with Santiago was also for the then-vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title.

After seven tough-fought rounds that saw both fighters unwilling to give the other the upper hand, in the eighth round, Barrios landed a wicked left hook to Santiago's liver that crumpled the Puerto Rican on the ropes.

Santiago managed to beat the 10-count and got back up on his feet, but, with blood in smelt in the air, Barrios bull-rushed his obviously still-hurting opponent and began landing a barrage of combinations on him.

Seeing enough, Santiago's corner threw in the towel which prompted referee Mark Calo-Oy to stop the fight at 1:42 of the 8th round and thus making Barrios the victor of their fight by way of technical-knock-out and the new holder of the WBC Continental Americas welterweight title.

WBC Interim welterweight champion edit

Barrios vs. Ugás edit

Seven months and a half after his victory over Santiago, Barrios clashed with former WBA (Super) welterweight title holder Yordenis "54 Milagros" Ugás for the then-vacant Interim WBC welterweight title. With their fight also serving as an under-card fight for the Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Jermell "Iron Man" Charlo pay-per-view bout on 30 September at T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.

Coming into the fight, Barrios was deemed by a wide consensus as the (3-1) underdog due to being considered by the majority of the boxing world to still be untested in the welterweight division whereas his scheduled opposition, Ugás, was not only a very decorated amateur fighter, but also a long-time welterweight who had already faced and fought elites in the division such as Thomas "The Frenchman" Dulorme, Shawn "Showtime" Porter, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, and Errol "The Truth" Spence Jr. just to name a few.

Much to the surprise of many, however, the odds were proven wrong on fight-night itself with Barrios battering and even dropping Ugás twice-- once in the second round and once again in the twelfth --en route to a unanimous decision victory over the Cuban with scores of 118-107 twice and 117-108 all in favor of Barrios.

And with the upset-win, Barrios became the WBC Interim Champion of the welterweight division.[13]

Barrios vs. Maidana edit

On May 4, 2024 in Las Vegas, Barrios is scheduled to make the first defense of his WBC interim welterweight title against Fabian Andres Maidana.[14]

Professional boxing record edit

30 fights 28 wins 2 losses
By knockout 18 1
By decision 10 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
30 Win 28–2 Yordenis Ugás UD 12 Sep 30, 2023 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Won vacant WBC interim welterweight title
29 Win 27–2 Jovanie Santiago TKO 8 (10), 1:42 Feb 11, 2023 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Won vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title
28 Loss 26–2 Keith Thurman UD 12 Feb 5, 2022 Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
27 Loss 26–1 Gervonta Davis TKO 11 (12), 2:13 Jun 26, 2021 State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Lost WBA (Regular) super lightweight title
26 Win 26–0 Ryan Karl TKO 6 (12), 2:23 Oct 31, 2020 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Retained WBA (Regular) super lightweight title
25 Win 25–0 Batyr Akhmedov UD 12 Sep 28, 2019 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Won vacant WBA (Regular) super lightweight title
24 Win 24–0 Juan Jose Velasco KO 2 (10), 1:16 May 11, 2019 EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
23 Win 23–0 Richard Zamora KO 4 (10), 2:16 Feb 9, 2019 Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California, U.S.
22 Win 22–0 Jose Roman RTD 8 (10), 3:00 Jul 28, 2018 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental welterweight title
21 Win 21–0 Eudy Bernardo TKO 2 (10), 0:45 Mar 10, 2018 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
20 Win 20–0 Naim Nelson TKO 7 (10), 1:41 Sep 19, 2017 Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
19 Win 19–0 Jose Luis Rodriguez KO 7 (10), 0:37 Jun 11, 2017 Pioneer Event Center, Lancaster, California, U.S.
18 Win 18–0 Yardley Armenta Cruz TKO 6 (8), 0:25 Mar 4, 2017 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
17 Win 17–0 Claudio Rosendo Tapia KO 2 (8), 2:36 Dec 10, 2016 Galen Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
16 Win 16–0 Devis Boschiero UD 12 Jul 9, 2016 CURE Insurance Arena, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
15 Win 15–0 Edgar Gabejan UD 8 Apr 16, 2016 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
14 Win 14–0 Manuel Vides KO 6 (8), 0:31 Dec 12, 2015 AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Enrique Tinoco UD 8 Nov 10, 2015 Music Hall, Austin, Texas, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Eduardo Rivera KO 1 (8), 2:04 Sep 26, 2015 Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
11 Win 11–0 Jose Cen Torres TKO 4 (8), 2:10 Sep 6, 2015 American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
10 Win 10–0 Jose Arturo Esquivel UD 8 Jul 18, 2015 Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
9 Win 9–0 Jose Del Valle KO 6 (6), 1:02 May 9, 2015 Payne Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, U.S.
8 Win 8–0 Justin Lopez TKO 3 (6), 1:53 Mar 7, 2015 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
7 Win 7–0 Juan Sandoval UD 4 Nov 20, 2014 Sportsmen's Lodge, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Abraham Rubio KO 1 (4), 0:53 Oct 8, 2014 Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Salvador Perez KO 1 (4), 2:18 Jul 25, 2014 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Jaxel Marrero UD 4 May 10, 2014 Galen Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Lyonell Kelly UD 4 Mar 7, 2014 Pala Casino Resort and Spa, Pala, California, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Manuel Rubalcava UD 4 Feb 10, 2014 Cowboys Dance Hall, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Rigoberto Moreno TKO 1 (4), 1:39 Nov 11, 2013 Cowboys Dance Hall, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

Personal life edit

Mario's sister Selina Barrios is also a professional boxer.[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Mario Barrios". PBC Boxing. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "Ratings". The Ring. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  3. ^ Christ, Scott (2019-05-11). "Mario Barrios knocks out Juan Jose Velasco, calls for world title shot". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  4. ^ "Mario Barrios Drops Akhmedov Twice, Wins Very Tough Decision". Boxingscene. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  5. ^ "Mario Barrios claims his biggest victory on the Spence-Porter undercard". The Ring. 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  6. ^ Christ, Scott (2019-09-28). "Mario Barrios wins questionable decision over Batyr Akhmedov". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  7. ^ "Mario Barrios scores sixth-round knockout of Ryan Karl on Davis-Santa Cruz card". The Ring. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  8. ^ Random Hits. "Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios - PPV Card Officially Announced". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  9. ^ "Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios fight results: Live boxing updates, scorecard, start time, undercard". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  10. ^ "Gervonta Davis drops Mario Barrios three times, scores 11th-round stoppage in Atlanta". The Ring. 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  11. ^ Donovan, Jake (2022-01-19). "WBC President: Thurman-Barrios Is An Official Eliminator, Not Final". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  12. ^ "Keith Thurman outclasses Mario Barrios in first bout since July 2019". The Ring. 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  13. ^ "Showtime Boxing results, highlights: Mario Barrios batters Yordenis Ugas for interim welterweight title". CBSSports.com. 1 October 2023.
  14. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (10 April 2024). "Mario Barrios vs Fabian Andres Maidana set for Canelo-Munguia PPV co-feature". FIGHTMAG.
  15. ^ "Mario Barrios and The Fighting Mexican Tradition". Premier Boxing Champions. Retrieved 2019-09-29.

External links edit

  • Boxing record for Mario Barrios from BoxRec (registration required)
  • Mario Barrios - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Lucas Matthysse
WBA Inter-Continental
welterweight champion

July 28, 2018 – February 2019
Vacant
Title next held by
Nursultan Zhangabayev
Vacant
Title last held by
Luke Santamaria
WBC Continental Americas
welterweight champion

February 11 – September 30, 2023
Won interim world title
Vacant
World boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Regis Prograis
as Champion
WBA super lightweight champion
Regular title

September 28, 2019 – June 26, 2021
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Robert Guerrero
WBC welterweight champion
Interim title

September 30, 2023 – present
Incumbent