On Feb. 21, 2026, Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (25-2,1 NC, 20 KOs) won the WBC welterweight title (147 lbs.) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against now former two weight division champion Mario Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs).
Boxing promoters had billed this event as “high stakes” because this was a “cross-roads” fight for both fighters, but more so for Ryan. He is a very popular fighter with 12.9 million Instagram followers, 8.6 million TikTok followers, 1.5 million X followers, etc.
Although a professional fighter for almost 10 years, he had not won a professional world title. He was due to challenge former WBC Jr. welterweight champion (140 lbs.) Devin Haney back in 2024 for his title but was over the weight limit so did not qualify to win the title, even though he defeated Haney in spectacular fashion via unanimous decision.
Unfortunately for Garcia, that victory over Haney was overshadowed because Ryan tested positive for a banned substance know as “Ostarine” after the fight. Ryan claimed he was innocent of using any illegal substances. The victory was changed to a “No Contest,” and the New York State Athletic Commission suspended Ryan from boxing for one year and made him pay a hefty fine.
In his second attempt at a world title (WBA), he lost to Rolando “Rolly” Romero via unanimous decision one year ago. So winning against Barrios was a must for Garcia.
Going into the fight, Ryan decided to have his father, Henry Garcia (his original trainer) prepare him. Ryan has worked with some of the best boxing trainers such as Eddy Reynoso, Derrick James, and Joe Goossen, who had amicably parted ways with Garcia back in 2021 after he lost to Gervonta “Tank” Davis. But now, Goossen was the new trainer for Barrios.
Both Ryan and Henry expressed their displeasure at the fight announcement press conference, calling Goossen a traitor. Goossen paid the name-calling no mind, only responding that he had agreed to work as Barrios’ trainer prior to the agreement for Ryan and Barrios to fight.
Boxing experts, current boxers, and former boxers were wondering which Ryan Garcia would show up on the Barrios fight night. Would it be the Ryan Garcia who totally dominated Devin Haney back in 2024? Or would it be the Ryan Garcia who lost a dull round 12 round decision against WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero one year ago?
At the sound of the first bell, Ryan wasted no time in answering those questions. He used speed, good foot work, and landed a good right hand punch to score a surprise knockdown against Barrios in the first round. Ryan displayed superior speed by evading most of Barrios’ punches, while landing his own punches at will. Ryan was also able to evade punches by using good defense and movement. Ryan seemed to hurt Barrios multiple times throughout the course of the fight but was unable to score a knockout.
Most ringside observers did not score any of the 12 rounds for Barrios. It was a complete shutout victory for Ryan.
After the fight, Ryan complained that he had hurt his right hand, which may have been why Barrios survived to finish the fight. The judges’ official three scorecards were 120-107, 119-108, and 118-109.
Haïti Liberté was in agreement with the unanimous decision victory for Ryan Garcia by the judges. He had finally lived up to his nickname of “KingRy” and has won a major world title (WBC).
Ryan is arguably one the Faces of Boxing, if not the “Face of Boxing.” He now has quite a few options for “Big Fights” against opponents like multi-divisional champion and newly crowned WBO Jr. welterweight champion Shakur Stevenson, a rematch with Devin Haney (current WBO welterweight champion), and/or a rematch with Rolando “Rolly” Romero (current WBA welterweight champion).
The entire boxing world now anxiously awaits KingRy’s decision as to whom he will fight next.
Contact Writer: RL*********@*ol.com
