David Benavidez has given his honest thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios, which saw him become the WBC world welterweight champion last Saturday.
Entering their showdown as the defending champion, despite coming off back-to-back draws, some felt that Barrios’ engine would prove too relentless for Garcia.
The 30-year-old had previously tied with a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao in July, but nonetheless showed that he is capable of fighting at a considerable pace for 12 rounds.
Garcia, on the other hand, had left many unanswered questions – mostly regarding his psychological state – after losing a unanimous decision to Rolando Romero in May.
That was his first outing since being handed a year-long drugs ban by the New York State Athletic Commission, who acted in response to him testing positive for ostarine, a banned substance, following his majority decision victory over Devin Haney.
The result of their encounter in April 2024 was then overturned to a no-contest, with Garcia openly admitting to ‘drinking and partying’ during his suspension.
But despite his lack of discipline throughout that period, the 27-year-old ultimately produced a dominant performance to drop and outpoint Barrios over the weekend.
Reacting to his friend’s world title triumph, WBC light-heavyweight champion Benavidez told DAZN Boxing that he was mightily impressed by Garcia’s ‘great’ performance.
“I think it was a great comeback – not only a comeback fight, but a comeback victory for Ryan.
“Now he’s world champion. He looked great; he looked fast. [His] movement was good. He has the world at his feet right now.
“I’m happy for Ryan and I just wish the best for him. I feel like, if he worked on some different stuff, he could’ve got the knockout.
“But Barrios [was] a live dog in there. Not only was he a live dog; he was the champion, so he wasn’t going down without a fight.”
Garcia called out WBO super-lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson immediately after his victory over Barrios, hoping to get the ball rolling for their potential clash.
Previously, ‘King Ry’ has said that he would meet the pound-for-pound star at a catchweight of 144lbs, though the finer details of their matchup are seemingly yet to be discussed.
