LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao called for an immediate rematch with Mario Barrios on Saturday night.

The questionable nature of their 12-round majority draw warrants wanting a second shot at Barrios' WBC welterweight title if you're Pacquiao. The Filipino icon could've joined Bernard Hopkins and the late George Foreman as fighters who've won world titles when they were 45 or older.

The WBC belt is therefore meaningful for Pacquiao, no matter what many of us think of the often-unscrupulous sanctioning organizations.

Barrios understandably would welcome a second fight with Pacquiao as well. He won't make nearly as much money for fighting another opponent, even if Barrios believes he beat Pacquiao decisively.

Ordinarily, rematches make sense when an undeniable "A" side like Pacquiao doesn't get credit for winning a fight he wins in the court of public opinion. It is difficult, though, for Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions to take the same promotional approach to a rematch as Bob Arum's Top Rank took to Pacquiao's necessary rematches with Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley.

Though Pacquiao proved he can still compete against championship-caliber opposition, the 46-year-old legend doesn't have many fights left in the twilight of his rejuvenated career. Using one of those opportunities to box Barrios again doesn't seem worthwhile because their fight, while competitive and noteworthy due to Pacquiao's advanced age, wasn't especially entertaining.

If PBC continues charging $80 for its pay-per-view events, finding another foe for Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) seems like a better business plan for the eight-division champion's return to the ring late this year or early in 2026.

Pacquiao's handlers must be mindful, of course, of their fighter's age when matching him, particularly with punchers. But they need a high-profile opponent to help carry the promotion and pique the collective interest of consumers concerned with the higher price point of PBC's PPV shows.

Teofimo Lopez comes to mind as an appealing alternative to Barrios.

The Ring/WBO junior welterweight champ is even younger than Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs), but he would have to move up seven pounds to oppose Pacquiao, who Barrios confirmed remains a hard puncher. For better or worse, the polarizing Lopez would draw a lot of attention to their fight on social media.

Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) is coming off an impressive victory against Arnold Barboza Jr. on May 2 on The Ring's pay-per-view show in Times Square. He is also available because the former unified lightweight champion isn't doing business, at least in the short term, with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season.

Pacquiao's next opponent doesn't need to be Lopez, mind you. It just shouldn't be Barrios again, not when you consider Pacquiao's limited viability as a PPV attraction in the twilight of his resuscitated career.

Tim Tszyu's decision to quit on his stool Saturday night was unforeseen based not only on everything the former WBO junior middleweight champion stated before he fought Sebastian Fundora again, but also how he behaved even in his most brutal bouts.

The Australian contender repeatedly professed his willingness to die in the ring during the buildup toward the Fundora rematch. Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) said that mentality was why his cornermen never seriously considered stopping their first fight in March 2024, when he fought through one of the most gruesome cuts you’ll ever see for 10 rounds.

Something inside Tszyu shut down after the seventh round Saturday, though. The timing of Tszyu's mid-fight forfeit seemed odd, having mounted a comeback and starting to land right hands more regularly.

Tszyu essentially admitted during his post-fight interview with Jim Gray that the 6-foot-6 Fundora wore him down mentally as much as physically. Maybe Tszyu experienced something physically he hadn't felt before and that prevented him from answering the bell to start the eighth.

Or maybe, just maybe, the brutal beating Tszyu took against Bakhram Murtazaliev damaged him mentally more than we realized. The Sydney native displayed a huge heart by getting up from four knockdowns against Murtazaliev, courage comparable to what he showed throughout the first Fundora fight.

However harsh it might seem, Tszyu's refusal to fight on Saturday is an indication that maybe it's time for him to seriously contemplate retirement.

Kostya Tszyu's oldest son is only 30, still in his physical prime. But three of his past four fights have been excessively violent battles that damaged his psyche.

Tszyu was fortunate to have received title shots after each of his first two losses. That is highly unlikely to happen a third time, thus Tszyu will likely have to rely on his promotability in Australia as he attempts to rebuild himself into a credible contender.

After what happened to him in two Fundora fights and the damage Murtazaliev inflicted upon him, no one would blame Tszyu if he decided risking his life each time he walks up those steps is no longer worth it.

Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez oozed professionalism and respect when he spoke to Phumelela Cafu in the defeated fighter's locker room after a 10th-round stoppage win Saturday night in Frisco, Texas.

Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs), The Ring/WBC/WBO junior bantamweight champ, made a point of informing Cafu (11-1-3, 8 KOs) that he had no idea his subsequent unification fight against Argentina's Daniel Martinez would be announced before they fought in a main event DAZN streamed from Ford Center at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys' training facility.

His fight with Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs), the WBA champ, was contingent upon defeating Cafu, but Rodriguez realized it seemed completely disrespectful when Alalshikh announced two weeks ago "The Ring IV" on Nov. 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

That announcement should've been made after the heavily favored Rodriguez fought Cafu, who lost his WBO belt. Even though he didn't know Alalshikh, the owner of The Ring, would discuss the Martinez match so soon, Rodriguez, 25, took accountability for the perceived disrespect.

The way Rodriguez fought demonstrated that he didn't take Cafu the least bit lightly as well. South Africa's Cafu, meanwhile, seemingly earned himself another opportunity against a top opponent in the 115-pound division.

Gary Russell Jr. didn't exactly beat Vasiliy Lomachenko or even Mark Magsayo.

Still, watching the brilliant boxer-puncher pick apart overmatched Mexican Hugo Castaneda on the Pacquiao-Barrios undercard provided a reminder of how different Russell’s career could’ve unfolded had he fought more frequently. Even at 37, the former WBC featherweight champion clearly could compete with younger championship-caliber boxers if he remains active.

It is hard to know, however, whether Russell (32-2, 19 KOs) will actually fight with any regularity.

PBC doesn't stage shows consistently because it doesn't have a fully invested television or streaming partner. Even when PBC partnered with Showtime, Fox, NBC and other outlets since it launched 10 years ago, Russell's inactivity made it difficult for him to maintain momentum, despite his tantalizing talent.

His victory over Castaneda (15-3-1, 11 KOs), whom Russell dropped four times on his way to a 10th-round knockout, marked just his seventh fight since a fourth-round stoppage of Mexico's Jhonny Gonzalez in 2015 to win the WBC 126-pound championship.

Pacquiao understandably received a lot of credit for his age-defying performance against Barrios. Oleksandr Usyk is eight years younger than Pacquiao, but 38-year-old fighters typically don't dominate the way the Ukrainian southpaw performed in his rematch with Daniel Dubois, either. Destroying him in their second bout was especially impressive because this was a more accomplished, confident Dubois than the one Usyk knocked out after nine rounds in 2023.

Lost amid Angel Fierro's unprofessionalism Friday was the WBC's shameless sanctioning of Isaac Cruz-Omar Salcido as a fight for its interim 140-pound title. Cruz and Salcido fought for 10 rounds, not the customary 12 rounds reserved for world title bouts. Oh, and Salcido isn't a junior welterweight, was preparing for an eight-rounder against a much lesser opponent on the Pacquiao-Barrios undercard and lost his previous fight. Other than that, the fighter Cruz convincingly beat obviously deserved to fight for a world title once Fierro pulled out his highly anticipated rematch with Cruz because he couldn't make weight safely.

Lamont Roach deserves a lot better than what is happening to him at the moment. Four months after referee Steve Willis unintentionally helped deny the WBA 130-pound champion the legacy-altering result he deserved against Gervonta Davis, Roach is forced to wait. Davis has to determine if, not when, he will fight again in the rematch he supposedly wants.