“Vim kuv twb tau tawm no kuv twb kawm tau ib tug heev ua hauj lwm nrog Bob Santos,” Hais Mario Barrios. “Santos has a lot of experience working with top level fighters and he’s showing me new things to help me get better. There’s a lot of little things that we’ve been working on that make a tremendous amount of difference when I’m in the ring. I’m using different footwork while improving on my defense, tej yam li ntawd.”

Rov qab nyob rau hauv San Antonio, Barrios cob nrog nws txiv Martin, who’s been with him since the amateurs when he started boxing at age 9. They’ve come along way together and have a special bond.

“Kuv txiv yeej ib txwm tau muaj rau kuv,” Barrios txuas ntxiv. “Nyob rau hauv tas li ntawd mus rau qhia lawv kuv yuav ua li cas ua tau ib tug txiv neej, he taught me how to box and stay out of trouble. It’s tough finding sparring sometimes, tab sis nws yog ib txwm muaj los mus ua qhov tsim nyog sacrifices tau ib tug neeg. Nws to taub tias yog dab tsi yog yuav mus coj rau kuv noj kuv cov ua hauj lwm rau qib tom ntej, and I appreciate him for that. Together we make a very strong team.”

Neighborhoods, uas nyob rau hauv nyob ze San Antonio, Texas, knows how important it will be to shine on national television. With a huge crowd expected to show support, Barrios yog npaj txhij mus rau nws tus cim nyob rau hauv lub super-featherweight faib.

“Nrog rau qhov no sib ntaus raug qhia nyob rau hma liab kev ua si, Kuv paub tias nws yog kuv lub sij hawm los qhia txhua leej txhua tus nyob rau hauv kuv kev faib, xws li cov neeg uas yuav tau saib nyob rau hauv TV, vim li cas kuv twb ua hauj lwm nyuaj heev kom tau mus rau qhov no txoj hauj lwm.” Mario Barrios xaus lus. “Ib tug ntau ntawm cov phooj ywg thiab tsev neeg yuav tsum muaj yog qhia tau tias kev txhawb nqa, so I’m coming with everything I got. I don’t care who the opponent is, Kuv mam li yuav npaj txhij mus rau impress.”