LAS VEGAS — Bob Santos senses Manny Pacquiao prepared just as hard as he always did for his welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios on Saturday night.

Barrios' trainer doesn't suspect Pacquiao is overlooking the defending WBC welterweight champion, despite Pacquiao and his team targeting Barrios because they considered him the most vulnerable 147-pound titleholder when plotting the Hall of Famer's comeback. For all he has heard about Pacquiao's power, however, Santos feels Pacquiao and his team haven't displayed the requisite respect for how hard the taller, younger Barrios can crack.

"The style of the fight, because Mario is there to fight, obviously that's why they picked us," Santos told The Ring. "But I think the one thing they're underestimating is Mario's punching power. They're gonna find out July 19th he's a bigger puncher than they think. … we're gonna see on fight night what happens when [Pacquiao is] getting hit, too. Mario can punch."

San Antonio's Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) has knocked out 56 percent of his opponents as a professional, slightly more than Pacquiao (54 percent).

Santos pointed out, though, that knockout ratios can be deceiving. The 6-foot Barrios, who stands six inches taller and is 16 years younger than Pacquiao, dropped Abel Ramos, Yordenis Ugas and Fabian Maidana in each of his last three fights, all of which went the 12-round distance.

The Philippines' Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) has won only one of his past 11 bouts by knockout, yet his handlers have seen an explosive Pacquiao during training camp the past two months at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.

Even at 46, they expect Pacquiao to hit Barrios harder than he has been hit in any of his 32 professional fights, including his loss to Gervonta Davis, who dropped Barrios three times and stopped him in the 11th round of their June 2021 fight at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

"Manny punches [expletive] hard," Justine Fortune, Pacquiao's assistant trainer, told The Ring. "And Barrios has never experienced that. When you do get hit like that, he's not used to it. It's a shock, he hasn’t fought at that level.

"I think once Barrios gets hit, he's on the back foot. If he stands there and tries to trade with Manny, Manny's too fast, too agile and he punches too much. He might get stopped on cuts. Barrios tends to cut and he swells a lot."

Barrios, 30, has been stopped only by Baltimore's Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), who owns the WBA lightweight title, in a WBA 140-pound title fight. Pacquiao has lost by knockout or technical knockout three times, but not since Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez knocked him unconscious in the sixth round of their fourth fight 12½ years ago at MGM Grand Garden Arena – the same venue where Pacquiao will battle Barrios.

Barrios' size and age advantages, combined with Pacquiao's near four-year layoff, account for why DraftKings lists Barrios as almost a 3-1 favorite in their Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event. This four-fight show, which can be bought through all cable and satellite operators in the United States, starts at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and costs $79.99.