Mario Barrios is squarely focused on fighting boxing’s only eight-division world champion in a big championship main event in less than two weeks’ time, but there are two fighters in the co-main event who could end up being future adversaries in their own right. Appearing on Bowks Talking Bouts, Barrios covered several subjects ahead of his WBC welterweight world title defense against the iconic Manny Pacquiao on July 19th.

Mario Barrios

Sebastian Fundora will battle Tim Tszyu in a rematch set for the night’s penultimate clash just before Barrios vs. Pacquiao, with Fundora entering the ring as the WBC world super welterweight champion. Referencing past comments about his desires to someday move up in weight, in the context of whether he has a peripheral awareness of the Sebastian Fundora vs. Tim Tszyu rematch set for the co-main event on this July 19th card [at the 9:16 mark in the embedded interview below], Mario Barrios said,

“Yeah, I mean for me, it’s only a matter of time. Right now, I mean, my focus and everything is just on the welterweight division. I’m here as along as I can be. But yeah, I have a big frame. It’s only a matter of time before me and my team we decide to make the move up. To me, it’ll just more comfortable as time passes.”

“Like I said, I have a big frame for the division. I’m very disciplined. I think that just helps with staying in the division I’m currently in. But like I said, it’s only a matter of time. But yeah, for now, all my focus is being here, defending my title, trying to get more titles, and then, you know, when that time comes, we’ll definitely be making the move up.”

Mario Barrios and his weight class journey in boxing

Mario Barrios is the WBC champion at welterweight, but he did not always ply his trade in this weight category. In 2013, Barrios made his professional debut in the sweet science as a junior bantamweight. The 30-year-old has incrementally moved up in weight since that point and collected championship hardware along the way.

This journey included winning and defending the WBA Regular super lightweight title before Barrios eventually lost it to Gervonta Davis in his first professional defeat. While there are eyes on fighting the top guys at 154 pounds someday, the native of Texas is firmly focused on achieving more at 147 pounds, where he has plied his trade since 2022 and is amid a journey that saw him capture the then-vacant interim WBC strap over Yordenis Ugas.