Bob Santos, the coach of newly-crowned WBC welterweight titleholder Mario Barrios, is thrilled with the information of Barrios being elevated to full champion from his earlier interim standing. The group is now contemplating future matchups with big-name opponents comparable to Manny Pacquiao and Devin Haney.
On Tuesday, the WBC introduced that Barrios had develop into the WBC champion, whereas the earlier titleholder Terence Crawford has been positioned into champion-in-recess as he prepares to struggle WBA junior middleweight ruler Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles.
Crawford’s return to the welterweight division stays unsure.
Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs), 29, from San Antonio, now holds important leverage with quite a few alternatives forward of him.
“We’re thrilled about that. It’s factor, clearly, and I do know he’s completely satisfied about that. We earned it within the ring,” Santos advised BoxingScene.
Santos famous that the group anticipated Crawford’s transfer after he grew to become the undisputed welterweight champion, predicting he would search larger names or new challenges in larger weight lessons.
“Yeah, that was a thought course of, since you had heard Terence [Crawford] speaking about a lot that he was going to go as much as ‘54,” Santos stated. “He clearly made his mark at ‘47 and now he needs to go forward and make his mark at ‘54.”
The elevation to champion standing brings the prospect of high-profile bouts for Barrios. Santos welcomed the thought of preventing future Corridor of Famer Pacquiao or Haney. A earlier report on BoxingScene indicated Pacquiao’s curiosity in preventing Barrios, whereas Haney just lately hinted at transferring as much as welterweight on social media.
“Individuals have been speaking about Manny Pacquiao as a attainable opponent for Mario’s struggle for his WBC title,” Santos stated. “We welcome that. Mario, the one factor about him, I stated it many, many occasions, is he takes on all challenges. He has by no means taken the straightforward route. He’s by no means turned down a struggle since we’ve been with him.
“Manny’s a legend. He’s earned the fitting to do what he needs to do, and he can stroll to the beat of his personal drummer. If that’s the struggle that he actually needs, clearly, we welcome the problem. We’ll see how that performs out. Devin Haney, we welcome that, too.”
Barrios beforehand fought and misplaced to Gervonta Davis at junior welterweight, adopted by a unanimous determination loss to Keith Thurman in his first welterweight struggle. Santos emphasised that Barrios’s willingness to face high competitors speaks to his character. Since that two-fight shedding streak, Barrios has received three straight fights, together with capturing the interim title towards Yordenis Ugas, who defeated Pacquiao in 2021.
Santos additionally addressed Barrios’s eye harm from his current win over Fabian Maidana, stating: “A bit backdrop on that, when you take a look at the struggle, persons are like, ‘Man, how did his eye get like that? He nearly by no means bought hit within the struggle. He had a sinus an infection going into the struggle, in order that was the massive purpose. He had a nasty, nasty sinus an infection going into the struggle. So he barely bought touched there, after which it simply occurred.”
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