Mario Barrios will target Jaron Ennis after Abel Ramos

Mario Barrios seemed led for a winter showdown against Manny Pacquiao, but the fight against the eight-division champion never materialized after the Filipino icon had a shaky performance in an exhibition bout.

Instead, the Mexican-American WBC welterweight champion from San Antonio will be showcased in another legend’s event on Friday when Barrios, 29-2 (18 KOs) takes on Abel Ramos, 28-6-2 (22 KOs), on the undercard of the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Barrios told BoxingScene on Tuesday shortly after his public workout. “I never thought I’d be fighting on the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight. But here I am. I’m excited to be part of the card. It’s pretty crazy.

“Abel and I are the only Mexican fighters on a card in Texas, and that’s no accident. MVP Promotions knew what they were doing when they contacted my manager Luis DeCubas Jr. and Abel Ramos’ name was attached to the opportunity.

“The plan is to steal the show, handle business and defend my title with a bang. It won’t be easy, but I’m prepared.”

“El Azteca” Barrios is gradually getting used to the bright lights.

His two losses have come against Gervonta Davis in 2021 and Keith Thurman and 2022 in PPV main events, and he has bounced back with three wins since then, the last two coming on Canelo Alvarez’s undercard. In September 2023, Barrios beat Yordenis Ugas via unanimous decision to land the WBC interim welterweight title, and in May he scored a points victory against Fabian Andres Maidana.

In June, Barrios, 29, was elevated to the full title by the sanctioning body after Terence Crawford officially moved on from 147 pounds.

“The goal is to beat Ramos, stay healthy and unify titles in the division with the other champions,” Barrios said. “That’s the next step. I’m willing to make all the games happen and there’s a lot of different ways it can go.”

If the Pacquiao fight is no longer there, Barrios will turn his attention to fellow title holders Jaron Ennis (IBF), Brian Norman Jnr (WBO) and Eimantas Stanionis (WBA).

Ennis comes off as what he billed as one “OK performance” in her rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian this weekend.

Barrios said he is ready to duke it out with Boots after Ramos.

“He’s been successful in his fights, but the boxing community can be relentless and sometimes hard to please,” Barrios said. “I think he might have rushed too much against Chukhadzhian. That doesn’t change what Boots brings to the table as a fighter. He’s still very dangerous and the biggest threat in the division. Sometimes we go in there and don’t get it performance, we expect. Boots can punch. We can fight 50 times and it can end differently every time. I will do whatever it takes to win against him.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached at X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTubeby e-mail at manouk(dot)akopyan(at)gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.