A ROYAL BEATDOWN
D on’t try to pigeonhole Ryan Garcia. He’s not cooperating. him the WBC welterweight title. In September, Garcia scored an electrifying stoppage of Conor Benn. The TKO, which came at 1:35 of Round 2, was the quickest Garcia victory since 2020, when he stopped Francisco Fonseca in one. Just when we thought Garcia was a flighty kid who wouldn’t live up to his potential, he’s proving us wrong. Prior to the bout, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, event promoter Dana White said a strong victory by Garcia would make him “the face of boxing.” That’s a bit of a stretch, for even with his destruction of Benn and an appearance on The Tonight Show back in May, Garcia is still miles away from having the Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson crossover magic. But if he’s not exactly the new face of boxing, King Ry is becoming the new face of Las Vegas. The Garcia-Benn bout was a smash hit in Sin City, with a reported sellout attendance of 18,855 and a live gate of slightly more than $8 million. This was not In May 2025, Garcia looked flat and listless in losing to Rolando Romero. He followed that in February 2026 with a 12-round decision win over Mario Barrios, giving a nearly flawless performance that earned
ALTHOUGH RYAN GARCIA’S TALENT HAS TAKEN A BACK SEAT TO HIS ANTICS IN RECENT YEARS, “KING RY” CONFIRMED IN HIS FIRST WELTERWEIGHT TITLE DEFENSE THAT HE’S ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS 147-POUNDERS ON THE PLANET By Don Stradley
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