Ryan Garcia hushes naysayers to claim WBC title against Mario Barrios

Ryan Garcia has been called everything from a social media star to a cheater and unpredictable, while some of his peers have reduced him to just a left hook in his boxing arsenal.

Now, call him a world champion, too. In the biggest win of his career, ‘King Ry’ defeated Mario Barrios in a brilliant, near-shutout performance to become the new WBC welterweight titleholder at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and live on DAZN PPV , on Saturday night. After 12 rounds of one-way traffic, judges scored it 119-108, 120-107, and 118-109, all in favor of Garcia, who screamed and flexed in glory as the unanimous decision was read.

“This is great, I’m dedicating this to my dad, though,” Garcia told DAZN, handing the green and gold belt to his father, who worked his corner.

Garcia had an absolute dream start to the bout by detonating an overhand right onto Barrios’ head for a riveting first-round knockdown. The look of shock on Barrios’ face was glaring, considering the knockdown came on a right hook and not the left hook that is Garcia’s signature punch.

Garcia never looked back from there, expertly using his hand speed advantage in keeping Barrios in the center of the ring to exploit "El Azteca’s" weaknesses, such as flat-footed steps and lack of head movement off the center line.

As Garcia banked rounds, he made sure to generate highlights along the way, such as the carbon copy overhand right onto Barrios’ head in the fifth round and the half a jab turned into that left hook across Barrios’ jaw in the sixth.

The seventh round had Joe Goosen, Garcia’s former trainer, speaking with DAZN’s Chris Mannix in a ringside interview while having to painfully watch Garcia continue to pepper his new charge, Barrios, at will.

During the 10 ^th round, Garcia was triple-jabbing Barrios and telling Goosen about it in the corner during the fight.

While Shakur Stevenson asked live on the DAZN PPV “where is [Garcia’s] right hand?" prior to the fight, by the end of the 11 ^th round, the WBO super lightweight world champion was imploring ‘King Ry’ to “go for the finish,” adding “Barrios ain’t got nothing for him.”

Stevenson was right as Garcia proved he was levels above Barrios in becoming the new world champion after two failed attempts at securing a title.

In April 2024, Garcia had missed making weight by 3.2 pounds, surrendering his chance to vie for Devin Haney’s then-WBC super lightweight world title. Garcia dropped Haney three times in the bout for a majority decision win, which was later turned into a no-contest due to ‘King Ry’ testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine.

Then, in his second opportunity for a world title, Garcia delivered a flat, underwhelming performance against Rolando Romero last May and missed his chance to reel in the WBA welterweight championship.

But there were no misfires physically or mentally Saturday night, where Garcia showed his full potential, executing a plan while showing he is more than just that vaunted left hook.

“It was one of the ones I wanted to show my whole arsenal,” Garcia said live on the DAZN PPV after his win. “I believe it was a masterclass, but I should have got the knockout to be honest. I had him hurt many times, but I hurt my right hand.

“Guys, it wasn’t just the left hook,” he added. “Y’all were saying left hook the whole time. I seen my right hand working tonight.”

It sure did. And when asked who he’d like to test his fight game against next, Garcia did not hesitate to mention Stevenson’s name, vowing that the pound-for-pound star's sweet science skills would not be a match for his power.

“The thing is, you gotta have some type of punching power to get me off you,” Garcia said, “because it’ll be a different style and I’m not going to hit him light.”

While that remains to be seen, Garcia, for one night, put it all together, realizing his potential.

During the fight’s press conference earlier in the week, the 27-year-old star vowed a world championship win would mark a “whole new rise to the King Ryan empire.”

Well, he laid the indelible groundwork to building it Saturday night.