Tinoco, who had previously beaten three undefeated fighters, two of which were 14-0, was coming off a 4-fight knockout streak. That streak was ended by Barrios.
Making his Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on Fox Sports 1 debut, 20-year old Barrios showed tremendous heart and skill while beating Tinoco after suffering a bloody nose in round two. Having difficulty breathing, Barrios had to bite down and make the proper adjustments to finish the fight on top. Barrios did so in spectacular fashion.
Barrios, who used his height and reach to his advantage while landing powerful punches throughout the fight, hurt Tinoco on multiple occasions. Although Tinoco used every veteran trick in the book against Barrios, he was no match for the young San Antonio native Barrios, who swept the middle and later rounds. Scorecards read 78-74 all in favor of Barrios
“I knew going into this fight that Tinoco was going to be my toughest test, because he had confidence upsetting other fighters in the past,” said Mario Barrios. “In addition he was getting top sparring in Mexico during training camp. But my entire team and I never had any doubts about my ability to be victorious. My head trainer Bob Santos has a lot of experience dealing with adversity and he did an excellent job keeping me calm in the corner when I suffered a bloody nose early in the fight. My cutman Todd Harlib also did a great job stopping the blood from gushing out. This was a great learning experience and I want to thank my entire team, especially my dad Martin, for all their hard work.”
