Boxing

Shawn Porter Rips Judges For 'Incompetence' In Manny Pacquiao Draw

Boxing icon Shawn Porter is not happy about how the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios fight was scored.
Grant Young|
Jul 19, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Manny Pacquiao smiles before his fight against Mario Barrios at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Jul 19, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Manny Pacquiao smiles before his fight against Mario Barrios at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

46-year-old legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao wowed a lot of boxing fans for his display against WBA welterweight champion Mario Barrios on July 19.

While many didn't give Pacquiao a chance to beat the champion because he hadn't fought in a professional bout in about four years, not only did Pacquiao go toe-to toe-with Barrios, but there's a strong case to be made that he deserves to win rather than the fight getting a majority draw outcome.

Two judges scoring the bout 114-114 and one judge scoring it 115-113 for Barrios has infuriated many. And one of of these is boxing icon Shawn Porter, who made his anger apparent with speaking with Sean Zittell after the fight ended.

"It was really hard for me to give Mario rounds. I thought that, Manny is a systematic fighter... I don't feel like Mario took control, took charge at any points. I don't know if he outlanded him at any point in any rounds," Porter said. "If you had a meter, it was really swinging Manny's way the whole way.

"I think it's bad judging. Incompetence, as usual, I think... Simply put, there's a lot that goes on in this game that don't agree with, and this just adds to my fire," he added. "There's no logic [to Pacquiao not winning by decision]... I've gotta be honest, there aren't any, there ain't one judge. And I don't know them by name. But I don't trust judges.

"They don't come from this school, so they don't understand this school. This is Harvard, this is Yale, this is Columbia. And those guys, they're not even in high school. I'm sorry. Respect to them, but they're not even in high school," Porter continued.

Porter isn't alone in feeling like Pacquiao got robbed by not getting his hand raised on Saturday.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.