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Why does everyone want to fight Ryan Garcia?
Mario Barrios will look to defend his WBC welterweight title against Ryan Garcia at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live on DAZN PPV and Ultimate Tier, on Saturday night.
But already, Barrios has won in some regards as a shot at 'King Ry' is one of the most coveted lands in all of boxing.
In just the past few weeks alone, everyone from Shakur Stevenson to Conor Benn have expressed a desire to clash with Garcia next.
Bill Haney confirmed with Andre Ward that a Garcia rematch is still on the hit list for his son and WBO welterweight champion, Devin Haney, while WBA 147-pound titleholder Rolando Romero slammed Garcia for challenging Barrios over running back a rematch with him.
The question is: Why does everyone want to fight Ryan Garcia? The 27-year-old has never been crowned a world champion. So, what is it about ‘King Ry’ that has fighters clamoring to face him?
Why does everyone want to fight Garcia?
Barrios, while speaking with me for DAZN News recently, tried to pinpoint just that.
“I don’t know,” Barrios said, taking a deep breath while attempting to piece it together in words. “I think just the noise, what he brings in all these fights. Then, his name definitely carries a lot of value.
“Yeah … I think that’s the only thing I could really say about that.”
Requests to speak with Oscar De La Hoya and Garcia weren't immediately answered by Golden Boy Promotions.
Barrios touched on the “noise”, but what else is there about Garcia’s name that carries weight and value?
Consider the following with Garcia’s magnetic appeal: being involved in entertaining, big events, having natural gifts, his social media clout and perhaps the biggest talking point of all, his unpredictability factor.
Regardless of who Garcia is going to be lined up against, expect an entertaining buildup to one of his fights.
The promotion for his challenging of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis leading toward their April 2023 fight was stellar with the bout selling over 1.2 million in pay-per-view and drawing a $22.8 million gate, as reported by the Sports Business Journal.
Obviously, Davis was responsible for many of those sales and butts in seats, though having a charismatic, talented dance partner like Garcia helped. The fight resulted in ‘Tank’ stopping Garcia with a crunching liver shot in the seventh round.
Then, also weigh Garcia’s social media clout with more Instagram and X followers than Stevenson, Benn, Haney and Romero have combined. One could make the argument that an opponent being matched with Garcia entails possibly grabbing a market share of his 13.6 million followers and expanding his own fighting profile.
Finally, consider the unpredictability of Garcia being a true wildcard, presenting fans with a luring scenario of just never knowing what they are going to get with him.
The buildup to his star-studded fight with Devin Haney in April 2024 included everything from Garcia making questionable social media posts to missing weight by 3.2 pounds, squandering his chance to even vie for Haney’s then-WBC super lightweight title.
In the actual fight, Garcia shocked the boxing world in April 2024 by scoring a majority decision over Haney, dropping ‘The Dream’ with three electric knockdowns.
The career-defining performance highlighted Garcia's natural physical gifts and punching power accentuated by his quick hands and vaunted left hook. Or so we thought.
The aftermath revealed that Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine, resulting in his biggest win being changed to a no-contest, a $1.1 million fine and year-long suspension.
Still, when Garcia returned to the ring last spring, he found himself in a familiar position — as a headliner once again vying to become world champion.
His May 2025 fight against Rolando Romero was for the vacant WBA 'regular' welterweight title as the main event of The Ring’s Fatal Fury: Times Square in New York City fight card, live on DAZN PPV. The card featured proven champions such as Haney and Teofimo Lopez, but it was Garcia’s face plastered all over NYC as the headliner.
Again, the unpredictability factor reared its presence as Garcia was knocked down and outpointed by an underdog Romero via unanimous decision to lose his chance to win the vacant WBA welterweight title.
Examining Garcia's ledger, a seventh-round TKO win over Luke Campbell to win the WBC interim lightweight title is the closest he has gotten to reigning as world champion. He has come up empty in his last two title opportunities and can ill afford making it 0-for-3.
Yet, here he is again locked into another main event with another crack to become world champion. This time, though, a failure to reel in a world title could result in that magnetic appeal losing its luster.
After all, just as easy as Garcia has suitors wanting to fight him, that same line of opponents could dissipate.
A win, though, and Garcia might have his pick and keep his it factor intact.
Watch Barrios vs. Garcia only on DAZN PPV
The WBC welterweight world title is on the line this Saturday - Feb 21 - as Mario Barrios and Ryan Garcia go toe-to-toe, exclusively on DAZN. Buy the PPV as a one-off cost or get included with DAZN Ultimate Tier.
For more information, pricing and to buy, click here.
