Andre Ward has weighed in on Manny Pacquiao’s sensational return to the ring.
The 46-year-old from the Philippines locked horns with reigning WBC world welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, putting an end to four years of inactivity.
Two of the three judges at ringside scored the contest 114-114 even, whilst the other had it 115-113 in favour of the reigning world champion – resulting in a majority draw with Barrios retaining his belt.
There had been concerns that Pacquiao would struggle to match the tempo and output set by the younger champion, but the eight division world champion put on an impressive display on the night to prove his doubters wrong, with most in attendance believing he did enough to get his hand raised.
In footage posted by Fight Hub TV, retired two-weight world champion Andre Ward shared his thoughts on the result, as he admits he believes Pacquiao should have got the victory on the scorecards.
“I thought Manny won that. I thought Manny won that fight bro. I know he lost the last round, I think on all the judges scorecards that was the difference maker. I thought Manny won the fight bro. I thought he did more. I thought Manny did more man. What y’all think? Manny won the fight! Not by a lot, but it was enough, I thought Manny did more in certain rounds and stole rounds, it was some close rounds but I thought Manny did what he was supposed to do.”
‘PacMan’ looks set to continue his boxing career following his impressive performance against Barrios, although it remains unclear whether he will face ‘El Azteca’ in a rematch next.
