I feel good at 140 super strong and ready to do something in this weight class,” said Barrios. That convinced me that I couldn’t fight at 130 anymore. “My fight was very difficult and in the later rounds I didn’t have the power in my legs. But starting with Tapia, he has been powerfully demonstrative at 9-0 with eight knockouts in as many consecutive 140-pound fights under under 2013 BWAA Trainer of the Year, Virgil Hunter, ending with September’s unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Russian knockout artist Batyr Akhmedov for the WBA’s vacant title. Comprising the wins were those in eight and 12 rounds over sixty fight veteran Edgar Gabejan (April) and former European champion Devis Boschiero (July) as well as a second-round knockout of Claudio Rosendo Tapia (December).īarrios drained and weakened himself to make 130-pounds against Boschiero. “El Azteca” stepped up his weight, pace and competition in 2015, campaigning from 128-to-131 ¾ pounds, finishing five of seven fights by stoppage and facing six opponents who boasted winning records.īarrios finished 2015 by returning to San Antonio’s AT&T Center as a 130-pounder on December 12, his sixth-round knockout of hard-hitting Manuel Vides (18-4, 11 KOs coming in) improving his mark to 13-0 with eight KOs.īarrios rose to 16-0 with 10 stoppages in 2016 following three bouts contested while weighing 135 ½, 130 and 136 ½, respectively. It’s going to be a great honor to bring a world title home.īarrios went 6-0 with a pair of first-round knockouts in 2014, his final three victories - between 125 ¼ and 127 ¾ pounds - being stoppages of Salvador Perez (July) and Abraham Rubio (October) and a four-round unanimous decision over Juan Sandoval (November). I want to represent my people, represent my city. That’s my background and I’m proud of it. “I was reading books on the Aztec Empire, the civilization and the indigenous people in America. I remember when I was in elementary school,” said Barrios. “Even when I was a kid I was intrigued by my heritage, my culture. I think he can be really big in this city.” I think Mario is more talented than them.
Only James Leija and a few others were really big. “San Antonio has had only a few world champions. The debut generated the kind of adulation sought for the young man nicknamed “El Azteca” with almost two-thirds of San Antonio’s residents having Hispanic if not proud Mexican heritage.“San Antonio has a huge Mexican population,” said Mario Serrano, Barrios’ publicist. I appreciate y’all and I’m trying to get back to everyone.Ī post shared by Mario Barrios on at 9:16am PDT THE AZTEC WARRIORĪn 18-year-old Barrios ignited his career at 122 ¼ pounds on November 11, 2013, his 99-second stoppage of Rigoberto Moreno taking place before his hometown San Antonio fans at Cowboys Dance Hall.
Still feels unreal but thank you to everyone that wished me a happy birthday yesterday and all my family/ homies that came through. A lot of people I went to grade and high school with freak out when they see how tall I’ve become and where my career is.”Ģ4-0 at 24 years old. It’s funny, because no one believed I was a boxer because of my build. “By the time I was a senior, I was 5-7, fighting at 123, even though I was always lighter than that, more like 116, 117. “It’s then that I started to realize I was pretty good at this,” said Barrios, who was a spindly 5-foot-7 high school senior, idolized past champions Oscar De La Hoya, Tommy Hearns and Salvador Sanchez as a youth and respects contemporaries such as Terrance Crawford and Gennady Golovkin. Selina set the pace, winning every tournament she entered and being the better of the siblings until they were teenagers.Įntering his high school freshman year, Barrios stood just 5-foot-5 and had won a few boxing tournaments punctuated by the national PAL tournament as a 95- pound ninth-grader. As they matured, Martin trained them as adults.
Isabel took Barrios and Selina, then an 8-year-old, to the Eastside Boys and Girls Club in San Antonio, Texas. Then, when I moved to San Antonio and had Mario and saw how big boxing was here, I looked for a gym and my husband (Barrios’ stepfather, Martin Soto) and I signed him up.” The problem was that I lived in Wisconsin and there were no opportunities for me to box there. “I watched Christy Martin and thought, ‘I want to do that.’ I wanted to be a boxer.
I remember watching Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard, all the great fighters,” said Isabel, who, with her husband, Martin, raised Barrios, older sister Selina (26) and their two younger siblings, Vanessa (17) and Valencia (15). Mario Barrios began boxing at the age of six when his mother, Isabel Soto, took him and his sister Selina to the gym. Couldn't be prouder of my sister, came out took care of business now leaving with a first round KO! This is only the beginning for something huge! #TeamBarrios #TheComeUpĪ post shared by Mario Barrios on at 7:25pm PST MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
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