Boxer Mario Barrios ended up looking like an avatar character after having his nose caved in by the returning Keith Thurman last night.
Former unified welterweight champion Thurman had his first fight in two-and-a-half years following on from his first career loss at the hands of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.
He claimed a unanimous decision victory over Barrios, who was 26-1 going into the bout.
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The judges scored it 117–111 and 118–110 (twice) after a convincing display from the 33-year-old.
He put Barrios through some serious punishment and broke his opponent's nose so badly he genuinely looked like a character from James Cameroon's 2009 film, Avatar.
Mexican Barrios was hit 181 times across the 12 rounds and his nose ended up being badly disfigured as a result.
It was a second consecutive loss for him after his first ever career defeat to Gervonta Davis, who beat him for the WBA (Regular) super lightweight title.
This was his debut in the welterweight division after moving up a weight class and he intends to remain at 147lbs going forward.
"Tonight I showed the Mexican warrior in me, he said afterwards.
"I take my hat off to Keith Thurman; he’s a warrior as well. We gave the fans a great fight.
“I thought I made a great introduction into the welterweight division and I’m ready to fight all the big names.
"I’m always going to give the fans an explosive night of boxing and I can’t wait to get back in there.”
Topics: Boxing
Josh Lawless