Ryan Garcia seeks a return to form in 2026.
On Monday, DAZN announced that Garcia (24-2, 1 NC) is set to fight Mario Barrios (29-2-2) on Feb. 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at event titled “The Ring: High Stakes.” Garcia has the chance to become a champion at 147 pounds for the first time as he challenges Barrios for his WBC welterweight title.
It’s been a rough stretch of results for Garcia, whose last official win came back in December 2023.
He won a highly anticipated grudge match with Devin Haney
the following April, but the result was later overturned when Garcia tested positive for a banned substance. The performance was also overshadowed by Garcia’s erratic behavior before and after the fight, including missing weight for the contest by over three pounds. Per the bout agreement, Garcia reportedly paid Haney $600,000 for the infraction.
Garcia received a one-year suspension for the drug test failure and returned to action this past May where he lost a dull title fight to Rolando Romero at a Ring event in New York’s Times Square.
Barrios is coming off of a pair of title defenses, though both came via draw. He went to a split call against Abel Ramos in November 2024 and then this past July was chosen to be the comeback opponent for the legendary Manny Pacquiao, who went to a majority draw against Barrios, allowing the champion to retain his title
