WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios is ready for his latest defense against flamboyant, but underachieving Ryan Garcia. We delve more into some pre-fight comments with Barrios here.
WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios is readying to battle Ryan Garcia on pay per view next Saturday night February 21st in Las Vegas. And, the champ is well aware that there is scrutiny on his recent title defenses and how he's done overall in fights against top competition.
The San Antonio, TX native Barrios was a guest with insider Dan Rafael on our latest podcast, prior to the Garcia fight week, next week.
You can hear their full conversation here:
"I want to continue to grow as a fighter," Barrios said. "Nobody wants to retain the title from a draw. You want to have a very successful, dominant performance. And that's one of the reasons why I went with Joe Goossen (his new trainer) just to get me back to some of the things that got me this far in the first place."
Barrios is referring to his last two outings that both ended in draws, first, against Abel Ramos in November 2024. And, then, his closely contested bout with hall of famer Manny Pacquiao in July, where many believed the 44 year old Pacquaio won the 12 round decision..
While remaining champion, the inability to secure decisive victories in those match-ups has fueled debate about whether Barrios has truly validated his champion status?
Critics point to previous high-profile losses to elite names such as Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman as evidence that Barrios has yet to claim a signature win over a top-tier fighter. Saturday’s clash with Garcia offers a pivotal opportunity — not just to defend his belt, but to silence doubters and finally secure the defining victory of his championship run.
As for the sort of drama surrounding Barrios' new trainer Goossen, he was briefly in Garcia's corner for his own defeat by Gervonta Davis in 2023. At the kickoff press conference for this fight, Garcia repeatedly taunted Goossen sitting near him on the stage referring to him as a "traitor." This, despite Garcia being the one who fired Goossen after the Davis loss.
For his part, Garcia has questions of his own. This, after his last bout in Times Square, NYC, ended dismally, when Rolando Romero knocked him down early in the fight and Garcia fought tentatively and threw few punches, while losing a decision.
It is a fair criticism that Garcia has done zero in the welterweight division to deserve a world title shot. Yet, his name and social media following are big enough to get him to the event, again.
And, Barrios will defend his title in another lucrative, high-stakes showdown coming next weekend and he says he's ready for it all,
"I know I have a dangerous opponent in front of me. I know he's been clawing at an opportunity for a world title for awhile now....even Ryan said himself 'you never know what you're going to get.' He says he's focused. I hope that's true, because if it is, we've got an exciting fight in front of us."