NEW YORK, NY — Will the real Ryan Garcia step up? The 27-year-old Mexican-American, social media phenom, and always a center of controversy has been labeled as a young superstar, yet a career with no titles to define a possible legacy.
Garcia has a defining flight Saturday evening in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena with a chance to quiet the skeptics and challenge to dethrone Mexican-American Mario Barrios of his WBC Welterweight title, streamed live on DAZN PPV. An opportunity for Garcia to step up and finally show the potential that has always been there.
Yet outside distractions, admitting to being derailed with a mental illness, and a year suspension of using illegal PEDs has been the culprit, a stigma that has followed him towards a path for a championship.
It’s been an outside fight for Garcia. He speaks volumes about the talent and compares himself to the illustrious champions and Hall of Famers that are enriched in boxing history. And in this fight, his former trainerJoe Goossen will be in the opposite corner, another storyline that developed when this fight was announced months back.
Instead, Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) will in turn revert to his father, his first trainer who will be calling the directions from his corner again. And Garcia has made it known this will be his final fight with Hall of Fame promoter Oscar De La Hoya under the Golden Boy banner. Controversy, Garcia had a contract with Golden Boy and its known he and De La Hoya have had their differences.
Oscar De La Hoya and Ryan Garcia have been feuding for years on and off in part to Garcia’s contract disputes and claims with Golden Boy – Image Credit: The Ring Magazine
Though to De La Hoya, Garcia never left his hands. It has been and continues to be the Ryan Garcia business model of do as you want and do as you please. In boxing today that can work for some, and it has for Garcia with popularity. De La Hoya has never discounted the talent or ability of Garcia.
It’s what happens in the ring leading up to the big fight. Garcia knows how to sell, many big time names in the sport today use social media as their negotiating ploy to gain attention. The promoters, streaming networks, they read and listen. Garcia is no stranger to this and that resulted in a loss to another superstar, Gervonta Davis. That was a fight that generated over 1.2 million buys in the U.S. on April 22, 2023.
Ryan Garcia suffered his first loss in 2023 at the Barclays Center, falling to Gervonta Davis in the second and seventh round – Image Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime
Adversaries and bad words, the two fighters embraced and exchanged phone numbers when it was over, of course Garcia and Davis earned a lot of money and that earned respect. But the flaws of Garcia showed in the Davis fight and the stoppage came in the 7th round. Garcia could not handle the body punch as they contested at a catchweight of 136 pounds.
Rehydration clauses and making weight? No stranger to Garcia. More controversy in a mega fight with Devin Haney at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on April 20, 2024. Garcia knocked Haney down three times in a quest for his first title, which he would secure with the win.
Yet illegal substances and caught red handed, it was Garcia as the culprit. The fight result was overturned to a no-contest, Haney would not sustain his first defeat. Garcia, missing weight and failing drug tests, got handed with a one-year suspension leveled from the New York State Athletic Commission.
The fight between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia in 2024 at the Barclays Center made for headlines in and out of the ring as well as before and after the bout – Image Credit: Chris Esqueda/Golden Boy
A year of fighting for an appeal, a lucrative fight again for Garcia and most of the purse was upheld. But the biggest fight was Garcia denying he cheated, also providing evidence that he did nothing wrong, yet many contradictions. Popularity remained, his image tarnished in the boxing fraternity labeled as a cheater who was not to be taken seriously.
He said there would be a comeback and that failed in Times Square, New York City last May when Rolando Romero dropped Garcia in the second round with a vicious left hook and lost his bid for a title via unanimous decision, an upset and another setback. The loss also squashed the plan for a Garcia-Haney rematch and perhaps another lucrative payday.
Though if Garcia defeats Barrios, it could lead to another fight with Haney who holds the WBO welterweight title. The two have been chasing each other after that first encounter as well as on social media jawing back and forth.
Ryan Garcia is seeking redemption and it would all start with a win on Saturday against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas – Image Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom Boxing
You get the picture? Garcia with speed and power. The superstar who can’t overcome his demons and constant turmoil, more suited for a reality TV series. But as a fighter, there is talent and still time to get that head straight.
Still time to become a champion which is why Saturday night will be defining. A victory and championship, Garcia says the picture is clearer but not the whole. He wants to stay away from controversy and prove the skeptics wrong.
A picture that Ryan says “But you can’t be a great without a world title.”
But to do that, Garcia needs that defining moment. Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) making his fourth title defense will not go down quick, coming off two consecutive 12-round draws to Abel Ramos and Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao and with a slight height advantage.
Many say this is a 50/50 fight, basically it’s what Garcia can deliver.
We haven’t seen that picture for the past two years and what version will we get?
A defining fight, that’s half the picture for Ryan Garcia.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and columnist at LatinoSports.com with coverage of MLB, boxing, and MLS – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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