By: Sean Crose
Ryan Garcia aimed to win his first world title Saturday night in Las Vegas as he squared off against defending WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in a scheduled 12 round pay-per-view main event. Both men were in need of a good performance. The popular Garcia had lost his last fight to Rolly Romero last spring, and Mario Barrios had recently fought the legendary Manny Pacquiao to a controversial draw. In other words, there was more than a world title on the line this weekend.
Garcia had his man down within the first minute of the first round. Barrios got up in time but the tone had been set. To his credit Barrios had a much better second round. Still Garcia was hitting to the body and hitting hard. What’s more Garcia continued to hit hard well into the fourth round. It was clear that he was simply far more powerful than Barrios. On top of that question, Barrios was having a hard time landing on his man. Garcia had his man hurt again in the 5th.
Barrios remained on his feet but he was starting to look like a punching bag. Garcia was simply breaking his man down methodically. One had to wonder what Barrios had left. The defending titlist hit the mat again in the sixth but it was ruled a slip. So one-sided was the fight that heading into the 8th round it was a wonder that Barrios had managed to last as long as he had. Still he was able to survive into the championship rounds, which in and of itself seemed like something of an accomplishment. By that point Garcia looked to be in cruise control, though.
The last two rounds were essentially more of the same. Garcia absolutely and completely dominated his opponent winning himself the WBC World Welterweight title and regaining some of the reputation he had lost. And while it was true that Barrios was not seen as a great champion, he was a champion nonetheless. The fact that Garcia was able to handle him so easily says a lot about Garcia, more than it does about Barrios himself. If Garcia continues to look like this, his future will be bright indeed. He was completely tuned in Saturday night. Hopefully he’ll look tuned in for the rest of his career.
