On February 21st, the Boxing world will converge on the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV for a truly interesting and some might argue curious world title bout in the 147lb. Welterweight division. WBC World Welterweight champion Mario Barrios will defend his title against top contender Ryan Garcia in a bout scheduled for twelve rounds that can be seen globally as part of a DAZN Ultimate subscription or as a standalone pay-per-view option for non-ultimate DAZN subscribers.
What makes this both an interesting and curious affair between two fighters is both have arguably not been at their best in recent outings. The champion Mario Barrios will be making the third defense of his WBC crown and has not heard his name announced as the winner in his previous title defenses up to this point as his previous two defenses each ended in hotly contested draws. The most recent of those defenses came in July of last year when forty-six year old recent International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee and legend Manny Pacquiao came out of retirement and to most observers, including this one, did enough to warrant a decision victory over Barrios, but did not get the nod of two of three official judges to win the fight.
Although Barrios, who was named WBC world champion in after previous Undisputed World Welterweight champion Terence Crawford vacated the championship and left the Welterweight division, has managed to retain his title in two subsequent defenses after being named champion from previously being a mandatory challenger for Crawford, he has yet to show he can win a fight as a defending champion. While not a circumstance of his making in retaining his portion of the World Welterweight championship in two consecutive bouts that ended in draws, the obvious question that Mario Barrios will have to answer is not only can he retain the title via a victory, but can he do so in such a manner that it will quell skeptics who feel he may have benefited from those two bouts being scored draws rather than having an opinion that he won those fights.
It is often an unfair practice, but it can truly be easy to label a fighter off of a bad performance or one that some might call sub-par. In Barrios’ case he is coming off two fights where perception is not necessarily in his favor and that could prove to be a motivator for a world champion who likely feels he has something to prove both to himself and any would-be skeptics.
Standing across the ring from Barrios on February 21st will be Ryan Garcia. Garcia, who not long ago was viewed as one of Boxing’s hottest rising stars, has seen his career hit a snag in recent times marked by periods of inconsistency and struggles outside of the ring. Despite Garcia maintaining his fan base, one might be curious as to why he is getting a shot at a world championship at this point in time.
In his fight in May of last year in Times Square in New York City, Garcia was knocked down in the second round and thoroughly out boxed by Rolando Romero in losing a twelve round unanimous decision in a WBA Welterweight elimination bout. This followed Garcia serving a one year suspension for testing positive for Ostarine in the aftermath of his victory over Devin Haney in 2023, a result that was subsequently changed to a no contest. One might question both given what could probably be described as his erratic behavior before and after the Haney fight as well as his defeat to Romero last year as to why the World Boxing Council would grant Garcia this opportunity at their world title as its number four rated Welterweight contender.
It is important to keep in mind that while Garcia is coming off a loss, his fight against Rolando Romero was not sanctioned by the WBC and while one would think a loss would negatively affect any fighter’s standing in a sanctioning organization’s rankings, that simply is not always the case. From an old school perspective, Ryan Garcia though a very good and potentially still yet maybe a great fighter when all is said and done, has not earned this title shot as a fighter. Perhaps it may be accurate to assume that a combination of both Garcia's popularity as well as Barrios seeking an opponent of a reasonably high profile for what is known as an elective defense for him played a role in Garcia getting this opportunity. In fairness to the challenger, it is not unlike a position that other fighters who have had star value in the sport have been able to use to their advantage over the years regardless of wins and losses.
Garcia, however, has yet to win a world title to this point and it may be logical to wonder what his star value, the proverbial stock a fighter has within the sport, will be if he fails to capitalize on the opportunity that is before him in this fight. It may truly be a roll of the dice for Garcia's future at or near the top of the sport.
A wrinkle that emerged in the promotion of this fight that could have an impact on what happens inside the ring was Barrios hiring the legendary trainer and broadcaster Joe Goosen as his new trainer. Goosen served as a trainer for Garcia both as an amateur and for a period of time as a professional. While it is not uncommon trainers to eventually work against fighters they spent time working with as time goes on, Garcia appeared to not take kindly to Goosen working with his opponent and lashed out at his former trainer at a press conference to announce the fight several weeks ago where both he and his father and now trainer Henry Garvia confronted him. Goosen for his part called it a difficult situation, but stated that things change in Boxing and accepted the job when Barrios and his team offered him the job to come on as his new trainer.
Whether or not the exchange between fighter and former trainee and father, turned new trainer can be dismissed as hype promotional tactics or legitimate bad feelings is likely something that will be left to one's own opinion. What effect that this could have on the actual fight remains to be seen.
The most obvious way one could point to as far as it having a direct influence on this fight could be in Goosen having knowledge as a previous coach/trainer of Garcia's training methods and tendencies, which his current charge Barrios may be able to exploit. What we have here is an encounter between two boxer/punchers where an argument could be made that in terms of punching power, a slight edge may go to the challenger Garcia. Despite that, the question here is whether each fighter’s respective recent performances and to be more specific, the criticism of those performances may result in each implementing a more aggressive approach with the mindset of looking to impress, rather than a tactical one rooted in strategy.
The tagline of the promotion for this fight is truly both ironic and appropriate. “High Stakes.” Both fighters have a lot to gain, but also a lot to lose here. Beyond the WBC World Welterweight championship being on the line, both Barrios and Garcia are gambling their long-term futures in the sport here and this is a case where beyond a win or a loss, it may be even more important in terms of what may be ahead for both fighters as to how they perform rather than their potential futures being strictly viewed based on the outcome. We will see who stands tall on Saturday, February 21st.
“And That's The Boxing Truth.”
Barrios vs. Garcia takes place on Saturday, February 21st at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The fight as well as it's full undercard can be seen as part of a DAZN Ultimate tier subscription for $44.99 per month or as a standalone pay-per-view offering for $69.99. The card will begin at 5:45PM ET 2:45PM PT. For more information about DAZN including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, availability around the world, local start times in your area, subscription and pay-per-view options in your region, and to subscribe or order this event please visit: www.DAZN.com.
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