When is Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia?
Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia is on Saturday, February 21. The broadcast will begin at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time (10:45 p.m. BST).
What channel is Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia on?
Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia is a pay-per-view available for purchase via DAZN.
Where is Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia?
The fight is taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Who is Mario Barrios?
Mario Barrios, 29-2-2 (18 KOs), is the WBC welterweight titleholder who is making the third defense of his belt – though neither of his defenses so far ended in a victory for the native of San Antonio, Texas.
He had to come back from a pair of significant disappointments to even be in this position.
Barrios turned pro in 2013 and picked up a secondary WBA title at junior welterweight when he outpointed Batyr Akhmedov in 2019. Two fights later, Barrios lost that belt to Gervonta Davis via 11th-round TKO in June 2021. And that was followed by his second consecutive defeat, with Barrios moving up to 147lbs and losing a clear decision to Keith Thurman in February 2022.
But things started turning around for Barrios in 2023. He stopped the 14-2-1 Jovanie Santiago and then handily defeated Yordenis Ugas to win the WBC’s interim welterweight title. Barrios then defended the belt with a decision win over Fabian Maidana in May 2024. He was soon upgraded to the primary titleholder after Terence Crawford vacated the undisputed welterweight championship and moved up to 154.
Barrios’ two defenses haven’t exactly inspired confidence in his abilities. He had to get off the canvas and was held to a draw against the 28-6-2 Abel Ramos in November 2024. And then he had another draw this past July against Manny Pacquiao, an all-time great who nevertheless was 46 years old and had not fought professionally in nearly four years.
Barrios has switched trainers to Joe Goossen, and the 30-year-old fighter believes he’s grown significantly as a result in the nearly three months they’ve spent together. That will be put to the test this Saturday against Garcia.
Who is Ryan Garcia?
Ryan Garcia, 24-2 (20 KOs), is a fighter who seems to have lots of physical gifts but has not yet been able to put it all together in the ring when it most counts. That is in large part to what goes on with Garcia outside of the ring.
Garcia was a star before he was out of his prospect phase, capitalizing on his youthful good looks and his embrace of social media. And he also looked great demonstrating significant speed and power while scoring quick knockouts over the likes of Romero Duno and Francisco Fonseca. He did have to come off the canvas before putting away former title challenger Luke Campbell in early 2021, but in a way that was another test passed.
By 2023, Garcia was in the biggest fight of his life – in more ways than one – against Gervonta Davis. The huge event saw Garcia dropped twice and remain down for the count following a seventh-round body shot, taking his first defeat.
In 2024, Garcia was a major contributor to one of the ugliest builds to a fight ever for his challenge of junior welterweight titleholder Devin Haney. And then it proceeded to get worse. Garcia came in massively overweight, perhaps intentionally so. He proceeded to knock Haney down multiple times and won a majority decision. As tainted as the victory was, it was tainted further when Garcia tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug and the result was overturned.
Garcia was subsequently suspended for a year. His behavior remained ugly, including racist and Islamophobic outbursts. And yet he was handed another huge opportunity for when his suspension ended: a bout with Rolando “Rolly” Romero for a secondary welterweight title in a show in New York City’s Times Square. If Garcia won, it would potentially set up a lucrative rematch with Haney.
None of that led Garcia to fight with enough urgency. Romero dropped Garcia in the second round and effectively defused him en route to a unanimous decision win. And yet Garcia is getting another opportunity handed to him thanks to his celebrity and infamy, with this title fight against Mario Barrios.
Garcia, a 27-year-old who lives in Los Angeles, says that problems with alcohol affected his past performances. He told Sports Illustrated’s and DAZN's Chris Mannix that this is now behind him. That will be part of the intrigue come this Saturday night.
What other fights are on the undercard of Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia?
The undercard includes two junior welterweight title fights as well as additional matches featuring notable names.
Gary Antuanne Russell, 18-1 (17 KOs), will defend his WBA belt for the first time since impressively seizing it from Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela nearly a year ago. Russell’s opponent is mandatory contender Andy Hiraoka, 24-0 (19 KOs), who is coming off an even longer layoff and was last seen dispatching Ismael Barroso in the ninth round in September 2024. Hiraoka will also be arriving in the United States with just a couple days to spare after awaiting his visa approval.
Richardson Hitchins, 20-0 (8 KOs), is making the second defense of his IBF title, which he took from Liam Paro via split decision at the end of 2024. Hitchins stopped former lightweight champion George Kambosos Jnr in the eighth round this past June. Hitchins is taking on third-ranked Oscar Duarte, 30-2-1 (23 KOs), who is on a four-fight winning streak since getting knocked out by Ryan Garcia in 2023. Duarte took a majority decision over Kenneth Sims Jnr last August.
Also at 140lbs is Frank Martin vs. Nahir Albright. Following his loss to Gervonta Davis, Martin, 19-1 (13 KOs), ended an 18-month layoff with a bang in December, scoring a highlight-reel knockout against Rances Barthelemy. Albright, 17-2 (7 KOs), upset Kelvin Davis via majority decision in June and then was allegedly attacked backstage by Davis’ other boxing brothers, Keyshawn and Keon Davis.
Light heavyweight contender Bektemir Melikuziev, 16-1 (10 KOs), has a keep-busy fight against Sena Agbeko, 29-4 (23 KOs), who suffered quick knockout losses at super middleweight to David Morrell in 2023 and Osleys Iglesias in 2024.
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
