By REYNALD MAGALLON
Here comes the banter and the mind games two weeks ahead of the Manny Pacquiao-Mario Barrios title fight.
Barrios’ head trainer Bob Santos issued a bold warning to 46-year-old Filipino boxing icon, declaring that Pacquiao’s time has been over and now it’s the time for the reigning World Boxing Council welterweight champion.
“Pacquiao you (already) had your time. Now, it is El Azteca time,” said Santos addressing Pacquiao during Barrios’ media workout over the weekend.
“We appreciate the run but it’s his time. Not because you don’t have the hand speed, the foot speed and all that. You have the IQ, you have the experience but this man is hungry and determined. And he’s gonna take it to the next level,” he added while pointing at Barrios by his side.
Pacquiao, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the comments as he entered the final stretch of his training at the Wild Card Gym with the fight set on July 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
While Santos is seemingly trying to get on to the nerves of Team Pacquiao – with him even wearing a ‘Pacman Game Over’ cap during the media availability, Barrios, for his part, intended to focus on the fight as he vowed not to pull his punches against the elder statesman who is also coming back into boxing after four years of inactivity.
“I’m not training with the mentality that I’ll fight an icon, fight a legend. At the end of the day he was just another man trying to fight for my title,” said Barrios who is coming in as the fresher fighter at only 30-years-old while boasting the size advantage, standing at six-feet tall.
“I respect everything he’s done for the sport, even the person he is outside of the ring but come fight night, all the respect isn’t going to be there,” he added.
“It’s all smiles between both of us right now but in the fight, we’re going in there with bad intentions. He’s going in there to take my belt and I go to do whatever it take to make sure he doesn’t.”
