Mario Barrios defends his WBC welterweight title against Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this evening.
Barrios is making the third defence of his belt, having been upgraded from interim status in May 2024 following his win over Fabian Maidana.
He is yet to be victorious since becoming champion though, with those two fights each ending in draws, first against Abel Ramos in November 2024, before another when he took on boxing legend Manny Pacquiao in July.
Barrios now turns his attention to Garcia, who is bidding to become a world champion for the first time after coming up short in his previous 147lbs title bout against Rolando Romero back in May.
Prior to that, Garcia had claimed a win over Devin Haney, only for the result to be overturned to a no contest after ‘King Ry’ failed a drugs test, resulting in a 12-month ban.
It means that Garcia hasn’t won since his December 2023 knockout against Oscar Duarte, with that the only victory in his last four bouts, so the 27-year-old will be keen to prove he belongs at world level when he challenges Barrios tonight. Should he do so, there will be big implications for a stacked welterweight division.
Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia live scorecard
This is a Boxing News live scorecard and not the official score from the judges.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrios | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 107 |
| Garcia | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 120 |
Result: Garcia UD. Ryan Garcia achieves what many have expected of him for years in becoming a world champion. After dropping Barrios in the first, it was domination throughout with very little jeopardy, Barrios’ only real weapon being his durability. A knockout would have been the cherry on top, but Garcia revealed post-fight that an injury to his right hand stopped him pushing for it. Official scorecards read 119-108, 120-107, 118-109, and the welterweight division has a new champion at the table with plenty of options for huge fights on the horizon. Garcia dedicated the win to his father and trainer, Henry.
