LAS VEGAS — The fight Bob Santos saw from Mario Barrios' corner convinced him that the WBC welterweight champion was ahead entering the 10th round against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night.

Barrios' veteran trainer understood, though, that battling a legend inside a building full of Pacquiao's loud, proud fans could complicate matters on the scorecards. That's why Santos stressed to Barrios that he needed to do everything he could to clearly win the final three rounds of their 12-round, 147-pound championship match at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Barrios followed Santos' instructions and won the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds on the cards of all three judges — Tim Cheatham, Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld. It turned out Barrios needed those rounds more than he and Santos realized because his late rally on the scorecards still only earned him a majority draw.

De Luca scored Barrios a 115-113 winner, but Cheatham and Weisfeld had their pay-per-view main event 114-114 apiece. Barrios fought to a second straight draw, but retained his WBC belt.

"I feel like I won the fight," Barrios said during his post-fight press conference. "And I feel like the last three rounds really solidified that. But you never know what some people see or are looking for in the fights. I feel I won. Me and my team feel that we won and we're very proud of what I showed. I'm still just thankful to be holding my title."

Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) and his longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, contended that he deserved to win eight rounds.

Regardless, Pacquiao proved that even at 46 he can still compete at the championship level. The eight-division champion from the Philippines hadn't fought in almost four years before he battled Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs), who is 16 years younger and stands six inches taller.

CompuBox's unofficial punch stats showed that their fight was very competitive.

Barrios landed only 19 more punches overall (120 of 658 to 101 of 577). CompuBox recorded more power punches for Pacquiao (81 of 259 to 75 of 235) and more jabs for Barrios (45 of 423 to 20 of 318).

Barrios' stiff jab backed up Pacquiao on several occasions and was among the primary reasons Santos thought his fighter was winning before sweeping the final three rounds. Cheatham (87-84), De Luca (86-85) and Weisfeld (87-84) all had Pacquiao ahead entering the 10th, yet that's not the fight Santos witnessed ringside.

"I know we're going against an icon, right?," Santos said. "And so the crowd is with him. I knew he was trying to steal rounds in the last 10-20 seconds. A lotta times when the crowd gets going, people get influenced and you just don't know what the judges are looking at, what are they preferring.

"I thought we were ahead, controlling the fight with the jab. But I just wanted him to make sure we closed the show in those last three rounds, make sure that we left no doubt in anybody's mind. Unfortunately, the judges seen it the way they did, we came up with a draw. One judge had Mario winning the fight, obviously and the other two seen it a draw. So, we gotta live with that.

"I think the crowd influenced the judges just maybe a little bit and he was trying to steal rounds. He's a veteran, an icon, he's been there [73] fights, but I thought Mario did a great job in winning 10-12 and thought that ensured the win.

"It is what it is, and hopefully we’ll be able to do a rematch, because I think everybody would love to see Pacquiao again. And who the hell wouldn't wanna see two-time 'El Azteca?' It was a great performance and we'll move forward from here."