MAN OF THE MOMENT
in the first round, it was clear to anyone who’d spent $69.99 for the DAZN PPV that this was a new and improved Garcia, a fighter who was all business in his quest to take the WBC welterweight title that Barrios had owned for a year and a half. Garcia was so poised that Barrios would’ve been excused for saying, “That wasn’t the Garcia I signed to fight” and filing fraud charges against the promoters. It’s always interesting when a fighter seems to shed his old skin and appear like a different person. We’ve seen sluggers suddenly show more skills than we remember them having, or careful counterpunchers revealing an unforeseen love of brawling. We’ve seen chinny boxers who wobbled every time they were hit, suddenly absorbing the bombs of a knockout artist. As Garcia took command, however, it wasn’t just the addition of a consistent and dangerous right hand that we noticed – it was later revealed that his right hand was swollen and slightly sprained after the bout, as if he’d ridden it too hard in its first time around the track – but it was his whole demeanor. He was mature. Is the world ready for a mature Ryan Garcia? Moreover, was Garcia’s maturity something we will continue to see in the future? Or was he mature the way Riddick Bowe, that unpredictable heavyweight champ of the 1990s, used to be for certain fights? Bowe could seem like one of the great ones for a fight or two, only to revert to his old, clownish, poorly conditioned self. Sure, Garcia seemed like a disciplined, intelligent fighter against Barrios. But how long before he’s in some sort of trouble, or simply unable to make weight? Maturity looks good on him, but there’s no telling if it will be a lasting look or just a temporary thing. It wasn’t exactly an upset victory. Let’s not go that far. Even though Garcia was challenging a taller man, and even though he’d looked lethargic in last year’s 12-round decision loss against Rolly Romero in New York, the general feeling was that Garcia was
title: He’s moving up to a heavier weight class to try his luck there. Meanwhile, Garcia now has other challenges ahead. And the name most people want to see on the marquee opposite Garcia’s is Devin Haney. To say Haney and Garcia have an ugly history is an understatement. The drama started two years ago in April 2024, when Garcia defeated Haney by majority decision in a major upset, dropping him three times in the process. Yet the victory was tainted by Garcia’s failure to make weight, and for testing positive for ostarine, a banned PED that is usually administered to people with muscle wasting diseases. Not surprisingly, athletes and strength coaches appear to love the stuff; it consistently appears in anti-doping tests. Garcia was suspended for one year and his win was changed to a “no contest,” plus he was fined $10,000 and forfeited his $1.2 million purse. Haney, in turn, sued Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions for fraud and battery, alleging that fighting a doped, overweight opponent put his life in jeopardy. By the middle of 2025, there were rumors of a tentative settlement, and it appeared both camps were looking toward a rematch. Garcia, though, couldn’t follow a linear career path if he had a map and a flashlight. His loss to Romero last year derailed a rematch with Haney and hinted that Garcia was squandering his talent. Barrios probably agreed to fight him because it seemed “King Ry” wasn’t all he’d been cracked up to be. Once the bout was over, though, Garcia immediately responded to talk of a rematch with Haney. He made himself clear in one of his frequent social media posts: “Haney if it’s time to end you it’s time,” he wrote. “You will be erased, I heard you speaking my name. If this is what you want! Let’s start the discussions. Mark my words you’ll never fight again after this, so let that sink in and accept it before you say yes.” But there’s more to making a fight
still good enough to beat Barrios, and that his speed would be the difference. In other words, regardless of his erratic past, Garcia was simply the more talented man. “Class wins out” is the usual axiom among the old-time fight guys, even if the fighter likes to get high and claims to have conjured demons. Some could even argue that Barrios’ best years are behind him – he didn’t
look great in a 12-round draw with a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao last year, and the only thing rivaling how great Garcia looked in February was how flat Barrios looked. Did the first-round knockdown rattle him so much that he couldn’t recover? It was less than 30 seconds into the fight when Garcia blinded him with a couple of jabs before dropping him with a right hand to the
temple. Barrios hadn’t even worked up a real sweat yet, but there he was on his butt, suddenly processing that the smaller guy in front of him was quick and sharp and ready to fight. Though his trainer, Joe Goossen, had once been Garcia’s trainer and had probably spent weeks telling Barrios what to expect, it appeared that Garcia wiped the chalkboard clean with that single right-
hand shot. “That’s the performance I expected from him,” Goossen said of Garcia after the contest. Though there was some pre-fight banter between Garcia and his former trainer, Goossen was respectful of the new titleholder, saying that at his best, Garcia was nearly unbeatable. As for 30-year-old Barrios, he’s doing what most fighters do nowadays after losing a
38 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 39
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker