Brian Norman Jr Calls Out Mario Barrios For Unification Bout

Brian Norman Jr.'s first defense of his WBO welterweight title couldn't have gone any better, as he got a third-round stoppage of Derrieck Cuevas on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Now, Norman Jr. has his sights set on big fights, namely a unification bout with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

"Barrios over there hiding in the corner doing his little thing or whatever," Norman Jr. said. "Where he at man? I'm trying to get that belt up off of you. Everybody trying to go undisputed out here and you're just sitting over here babysitting. I need to go ahead and get that up off him and go undisputed with whoever wins the fight on April 12."

Brian Norman Jr says that Mario Barrios is BABY SITTING THE BELT‼️#MayerRyan2 #Boxing #BOXINGnBBQ pic.twitter.com/tucm8xErHO
— BOXING n BBQ (@BOXINGnBBQ) March 30, 2025

Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) was elevated from interim WBC welterweight champion to full WBC welterweight champion in June after Terence Crawford vacated the belt. Norman Jr. also went from interim champion to full WBO welterweight titlist after Crawford vacated the title.

Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) first rocked Cuevas (27-2-1, 19 KOs) in the second round with a left hook, but he wasn't able to get him out of there. With just over 10 seconds left in the third round, Norman hurt Cuevas again with a left hook, then put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.

Cuevas beat the count but didn't respond to referee Thomas Taylor asking if he wanted to continue, which prompted him to stop the fight.

IT IS ALL OVER 🔥@OfficialBNorman broke him down to retain the Welterweight strap! pic.twitter.com/lZLGfKy5g9
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) March 30, 2025

The welterweight division is beginning to heat up and will crank up another notch when Jaron "Boots" Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) and Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) square off in a unification bout for IBF and WBA welterweight titles on April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. With the winner of Ennis vs. Stanionis getting two of the four major titles, that could leave Norman Jr. and Barrios to sort out their business in a unification bout of their own.

MORE: Brian Norman Jr. Ready To Prove He's A Real Champion

With how Norman Jr. has looked of late, he'd likely be the heavy favorite in a potential unification bout against Barrios, whose lone title defense was a draw against Abel Ramos. And if Ennis can get past Stanionis on April 12, a potential bout for all of the belts between Norman Jr. and Ennis is one of the best fights that can be made in boxing.

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