Ryan Garcia Stops Mario Barrios to Claim WBC World Title

JAKARTA - Boxer Ryan Garcia stopped World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight (66.6 kg) world champion Mario Barrios to win the belt in a fight at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, USA, Sunday, February 22.

Garcia won the duel between fellow American boxers through a unanimous decision by the judges with 119-108, 120-107, 118-109.

When the fight was less than 30 seconds, "King Ry" showed his dominance by throwing two hard right punches that knocked Barrios to the canvas.

Although Barrios got up before the final count, he received more hard punches from Garcia in the subsequent fight.

Garcia, as quoted by Antara, continued to rain on Barrios with right hand punches, also adding punches to the body and quick combinations.

Barrios, who struggled to deal with Garcia's speed and failed to close the gap and fight at close range.

Although Barrios fought with a high defense, the punches that hit the defense had an impact on the former champion. Garcia was also able to penetrate Barrios' defense by changing the direction of his right hand, hitting various parts of Barrios' face.

Garcia again hurt Barrios early in the fifth round when a right hand hit Barrios' wobbly balance.

The pace of the match slowed in the eighth when Garcia started to fight mainly by relying on his jab, accompanied by occasional hard left hand punches and a series of consecutive punches. Barrios tried to urge Garcia more aggressively, but instead he became a target for Garcia's hard punches.

Barrios' comeback fight did not produce any significant results until the fight ended with the judges deciding the victory for Garcia.

With the result, Garcia, who is a former WBC interim lightweight world champion, returned with a new status as the WBC welterweight world champion while strengthening his record to 25 wins with 20 knockouts (KO) and two losses.