A Closer Look at Mario Barrios, Poised to Wreck the Comeback of a Legend

Saturday, July 19, is potentially the most glorious day in the history of San Antonio boxing. On that date, the city’s two reigning world champions, WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios and WBC junior bantamweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, will defend their titles in bouts going head-to-head on rival networks.

Rodriguez opposes WBO strap-holder Phumelela Cafu at Frisco, Texas in a unification fight that will air on DAZN. Mario Barrios meets Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on a card airing on Amazon Prime Video PPV, free to subscribers, and PPV.COM.

Barrios’s fight will inevitably draw the most eyeballs. He’s meeting a living legend on a show with a far more compelling undercard. But Bam, a special talent, will undoubtedly siphon away a few viewers, notwithstanding the fact that he is a prohibitive favorite over an opponent with no name recognition outside his South African homeland.

Is Mario Barrios somewhat peeved that his San Antonio homie is stealing a bit of his thunder? He laughs at the suggestion.

”He’s like a younger brother to me,” says Barrios, at age 30 the elder by almost five years. “I first met Bam when he was a little kid just starting out. We trained together at the Alamo City Gym. Our families are well-acquainted.”

In Las Vegas’ Pound-4-Pound boxing gym, it’s easy to single out Mario Barrios in a sea of Mexican-American fighters working the bags, sparring and shadow boxing. He’s the fellow with the colorful tattoos. The ink drawings, harking to Mesoamerican stone carvings, celebrate his Aztec ancestry, “my indigenous roots,” he says. (One would be surprised to learn that Mario was born in Racine, Wisconsin, as were his parents.)

Barrios brings a 29-2-1 (18 KOs) record into his bout with the famous Filipino, a 72-fight veteran returning to the ring at age 46 after a four-year absence. Prior to acquiring his title, Barrios was the WBC interim champion at 147. In his last fight, he retained his belt in a harder-than-expected tilt with Abel Ramos, a match that was ruled a draw.

That contest was in Texas at the home of the Dallas Cowboys underneath the 8-round snoozer between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Looking back at that spectacle, Barrios says the pre-fight build-up felt more like a reality show than a boxing promotion, but he gives his props to Jake Paul: “He is dedicated to the sport and he has improved a lot since he first started out. I also like that he has put a lot of women on his platform. My sister had so much talent, but those doors didn’t open for her when she was fighting. She didn’t get to see the fruits of her labor.”

Mario is referencing his sister Salina Barrios. A super lightweight as a pro, Selina was active from 2017 to 2019, retiring with a 6-1 record.

Selina, two years older than Mario, will be in Mario’s corner on July 19, along with co-trainers Bob Santos and Richard Barrientes and veteran cut man Donald Eams. “No one knows my style better than her,” says Mario. “If she sees something is amiss, she would point it out to Richard or Bob.”

Mario shares a daughter with Omayra Figueroa, the sister of the fighting Figueroa brothers, Omar and Brandon. Mario and Omayra no longer live under the same roof but remain close friends. (Brandon Figueroa, the subject of a 2024 profile in these pages, is a former WBC world super bantamweight champion. He too is training at the Pound-4-Pound facility and will be on the July 19 card, opposing Joet Gonzalez in a 10-round featherweight match.)

Although spending time with his young daughter takes precedence, Mario likes to travel, taking his skateboard with him. “I’m very outdoorsy,” he says, “and I like being around water, lakes, rivers, or oceans.” His favorite trip took him to Broadbeach on the Gold Coast of Australia. He went there in October of 2023 with his friend Brian Mendoza who fought Tim Tszyu at the Broadbeach Convention Center.

“It was summertime in Australia and everything was perfect from the weather to the beaches. I tell people that if I ever go missing, that’s where they will find me.”

There is a dark chapter in the life of the Barrios family although Mario wasn’t even a year old when it happened. On July 7, 1995, Mario’s 20-year-old biological father “thumped” his 14-month-old daughter Esperanza in a fit of anger, hitting the girl so hard in the chest that it lacerated her heart. Joe Santoliquito revisited the terrible tragedy in a 2022 story for Premier Boxing Champions.

Mario’s father went to prison for murder (and would be returned to prison by Wisconsin authorities in 2021 after violating his parole). Mario and Selina were placed in protective custody by the Racine (WI) Human Services Department and ultimately were taken in by relatives. Mario recalls that he was about three years old when his mother Isabel Soto, having regained custody, moved the family to San Antonio.

Mario Barrios evinces none of the anger management issues that plagued his biological father. That’s foremost a credit to his mom – “my hero,” he says, “the strongest person that I know” – but San Antonio’s only major professional sports team, the Spurs, may have played some small part.

“In a way, I think following [the Spurs] taught me how to conduct myself as a professional,” he says. “On the court, they stuck to the fundamentals; they weren’t flashy. The players were always respectful of Coach Pop and off the court they were all class.”

Under their revered coach Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs were once an NBA dynasty. Things haven’t been going well for the Spurs lately, but on the boxing front the San Antonio scene is percolating with Mario Barrios and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez providing the most intense heat.

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