Christopher Walker on Barrios vs. Garcia - Ryan Garcia's last chance to be the face of American boxing

Ryan Garcia is back, and he returns to an immediate world title shot against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas on February 21 with the latter’s WBC welterweight crown on the line.

The last two years of Garcia’s career pretty much sum up one of boxing’s greatest enigmas, as fans of the Californian have witnessed incredible highs before having to endure some damning lows both inside and out of the ring.

In 2024, Garcia produced undoubtedly the best performance of his career when he dropped Devin Haney three times before winning on points agaisnt his greatest rival.

The Ring

In the immediate aftermath, Garcia appeared set for superstardom as his handsome looks, explosive power, and social media profile were destined to combine, delivering American boxing a profile they have been crying out for since the days of Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia’s promoter, and Floyd Mayweather.

Instead, Garcia would fail a drug test, the win over Haney would become a No Contest, and he would lose his next fight to the unfancied Rolly Romero in New York’s Times Square. Garcia held the boxing world in his powerful left hand but now he is fighting to save his career.

In Barrios, Garcia gets an opponent he will be expected to beat, but he received that against Romero and was dropped early before being widely outpointed. Is anything different as he prepares to take on the man who held Manny Pacquiao to a draw last summer?

Barrios will be the underdog, but he knows just what is at stake against Garcia. For Garcia, and those close to him, this fight must mean everything. Fighters can wait their entire life for a world title shot and end up facing someone like Oleksandr Usyk or Terence Crawford. Garcia’s crowning moment could come up agaisnt Barrios and he will need to do everything in his power to ensure he is victorious.

With a win could come even bigger fights as Conor Benn could be in pole position to face the victor and that would mean another high profile occasion for Garcia in either America, Britain, or even Saudi Arabia, as the money at stake for such a fight could be significant for everyone involved.

Garcia left plenty of money on the table when he paid the price for his mistakes leading up to his showdown with Haney, before failing to grab back some initiative against Romero. With Barrios and Benn on the horizon, he would be foolish to mess up again.

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