Ryan Garcia routed Mario Barrios to win the WBC welterweight title on Saturday night in Las Vegas, putting in probably the most complete performance of his career to date.
Garcia (25-2, 21 KO) arguably didn’t lose a single round in the fight, maintaining full control after a stunning start that saw him put Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KO) on the canvas quickly in the opening round.
From there, it was all Ryan Garcia. Barrios, 30, never really got into it or found any way to make things competitive, as the 27-year-old Garcia’s massive advantages in speed and power were just far too much for “El Azteca” to overcome.
Barrios vs Garcia score cards
Judges scored the fight 118-109, 119-108, and 120-107 for Ryan Garcia.
Bad Left Hook unofficially had the fight 120-107 on two separate cards from Wil Esco and myself.
Garcia: “I should have got the knockout”
“I wanted to show my whole arsenal. I believe it was a master class, but I should have got the knockout, to be honest. I gotta grade myself on that. I had him hurt many times, but I hurt my right hand. Guys, it wasn’t just the left hook. I seen my right hand working tonight.
“It was a great fight. Mario’s a tough warrior. I’ve got respect for him, he’s a fellow Mexican-American, and we put on a hell of a show.”
“My right hand was working really good today until the sixth, seventh round. Other than (hurting it), it went well.”
“I showed my amateur pedigree. I can box. I can move, I can box, I can take my time. I don’t always have to go for the knockout. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, [because] Mario was countering a lot of fast shots [and] could have caught me in between the shots. I had to be very selective on my opportunities. I didn’t want to get caught with a big shot in there, so I had to take my time and pick my shots.”
“I’m surprised [Barrios] went all 12. I was hitting him with some great shots, I hurt him multiple times. But like I told you, he’s a tough son of a bitch. That’s all I can say.”
