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Ryan Garcia took the WBC title from Mario Barrios after a one-sided victory

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LAS VEGAS — Ryan Garcia has finally secured the one thing that has eluded him in his professional career: a world championship.

Garcia’s first two punches in Saturday’s fight knocked down Mario Barrios and he made a unanimous decision to win the WBC welterweight title. Garcia had perhaps the most complete performance of his career as the judges scored it 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109.

Garcia (25-2, 20 KO) beat Barrios around the ring during the fight, relying heavily on his right hand instead of a left hook. He surprised Barrios from the opening bell, hitting him with a pair of right hands that sent him to the canvas.

From that point on, Barrios couldn’t withstand the constant pressure as Garcia landed various punches to the head and body. When Barrios thought a left hook was coming, Garcia would punch a right hand, fire a jab or drive a left hook to the body. Garcia’s variety and breakneck speed forced Barrios into a shell for much of the fight, and he was unable to muster his usual high volume of punches.

“This was one of the fights where I wanted to show you my entire arsenal,” Garcia said. “I thought it was like a master class, but honestly I should have been knocked out. It wasn’t just a left hook. You all kept saying to watch out for my left hook, but you saw my right hand working tonight.”

During his stellar performance, Garcia suffered an injury to his right hand, which likely saved Barrios from being stopped. Still, it was one of the proudest moments of Garcia’s professional career, and he finally achieved the high expectations placed on him when he turned professional a decade ago.

The 27-year-old Garcia has gone 1-2 without a fight over the past few years. He lost to Gervonta Davis and Rolly Romero and suffered a major blow to his career when his 2024 majority victory over Devin Haney was overturned due to a failed drug test that resulted in a one-year suspension.

While his star power remains intact, Garcia’s tactics in and out of the ring have been controversial. He was arrested in June 2024 for allegedly causing an estimated $15,000 in damage to a Waldorf Astoria hotel room in Beverly Hills. A month later, he was expelled from the WBC after repeatedly using racial slurs and disparaging Muslims in a live broadcast on social media.

Still, Garcia was able to fight for the world title after the WBC reinstated it, so he took advantage of the opportunity, easily out-analyzing Barrios. Although Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KO) entered the fight as a champion, he was 0-0-2 in his previous two fights, drawing with Manny Pacquiao and Abel Ramos.

While these fights were competitive, the Garcia fight was not. Barrios couldn’t match Garcia’s speed and failed to create anything that would make Garcia reconsider his approach.

For Saturday’s fight, Barrios hired trainer Joe Goossen, who previously worked with Garcia. The hire lit a fire under Garcia, who returned under his father’s tutelage after working with several coaches for several years. Garcia’s return to his father resulted in one of his most accomplished performances and proved that even though Barrios had an instructor who knew Garcia, it wouldn’t be enough to turn around the extremely talented fighter from Victorville, California.

“This is the performance I expected from him,” Goosen said of Garcia. “What we needed to do more was push a little harder. But Mario gave it his all, he hit his gigantic shots early on and a few in the middle rounds, but for the most part he took everything Ryan gave him and kept coming.”

Although Garcia conceded in the final rounds, the outcome was never in doubt. He then said he wanted to face WBO 140-pound champion Shakur Stevenson, and that fight would be one of the biggest fights of the year.

“You know who I want? He’s in there. So, Shakur Stevenson, let’s go,” Garcia said. “Hey, I want to be a great champion and I’m not afraid…. I fought Devin Haney. I’ll fight Shakur Stevenson. I’ll fight anyone.”

The future looks brilliant for Garcia, who will have plenty of options for his first title defense.

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Boxing

Eddie Hearn questions Dana White’s boxing future

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Image: Eddie Hearn Questions Whether Dana White Can Handle Boxing

“I just don’t think they’re going to face the fire,” Hearn told iFL TV about Dana White and his company at Zuffa.

“You have years of catching, putting out fires and being bombarded with pellets and grenades to overcome this.

“I just don’t think they’ll be ready for the fire. You must be a little unwell.” [__] to do this. That’s what I do.”

Hearn also ridiculed White’s recent comments about boxing promotion and said the UFC president faces criticism now that he is in the boxing industry.

“He stank,” Hearn said.

“He’s not used to this. Don’t forget what we do, which is meeting people, giving interviews. But he had a narrative.

“He didn’t have anyone like that. That’s why he can’t do it and instead just says weird lyrics.”

Hearn later joked that White’s repeated comments about him actually helped escalate his visibility in the United States.

“I have to thank Dana White,” Hearn said.

“Every press conference he holds, he talks about me.

“I think there are people asking, ‘Who is this Eddie Hearn?’ Little Google, boss, Eddie Hearn.

Promoter Matchroom also rejected White’s recent claim that no promoter has staged more boxing events this year than Zuffa Boxing.

“The entire media audience responded, ‘Okay,’ and moved on to the next question,” Hearn said.

“Imagine if I said that. I would be fried by it in an instant.”

Hearn’s latest comments come as Zuffa Boxing continues to try to establish itself in the sport following months of public photos between White and several longtime boxing promoters.

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Roy Jones Jr Says There’s ‘Only One Fight Ahead’ for David Benavidez: ‘You’ll Beat Everyone’

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Roy Jones Jr says there is ‘only one fight’ for David Benavidez next: “You beat everyone else”

Roy Jones Jr urged David Benavidez to follow in his footsteps rather than fight Dmitry Bivol in an undisputed lithe heavyweight clash.

The “Mexican Monster” appears the sixth round ended with a victory over Gilberto Ramirezwhom he dethroned earlier this month to become three-division world champion.

However, despite winning the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles, Benavidez expressed interest in returning to 175 pounds, where he still holds the WBC belt.

That would mean chasing unified champion Bivol, who must first defeat IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert on May 30.

The Russian hasn’t fought since he overtook Artur Beterbiev in February 2025, when he exacted revenge by majority decision and became the undisputed king.

Bivol then vacated the WBC title after deciding to undergo back surgery, which allowed Benavidez to be promoted from “interim” to full champion.

But rather than return to lithe heavyweight, Jones would prefer to see Benavidez test his skills at heavyweight, as he did against John Ruiz in 2003.

In a conversation with professional boxing fans, the pound-for-pound legend said that a fight with Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, is the only fight that makes sense for him.

“This is the only fight for him right now and the only fight I want to see him in.

“You beat everyone in every other category, [so] go upstairs and fight Usyk. This is the best fight for him.”

While Benavidez has expressed a desire to challenge Usyk at heavyweight, he has said he won’t be ramping up his weight gain anytime soon and is therefore much more likely to receive his next assignment against Bivol.

It then remains to be seen whether Usyk will stay in the sport long enough to face the 29-year-old, which could end up fighting another heavyweight champion.

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Keyshawn Davis missed weight again for the rematch

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Image: Keyshawn Davis Misses Weight Again Ahead Of Nahir Albright Rematch

The weigh-ins quickly turned tense when Albright apparently sent a message directly to Davis during their bout.

“Be a professional,” Albright said in a recording later released by DAZN Boxing.

The lack of weight immediately sparked a backlash online, as Davis has dealt with weight issues before. Last year, Davis lost his WBO lightweight title after losing more than four pounds ahead of his scheduled defense against Edwin De Los Santos.

Friday also marked the second time Davis has failed to make weight in his last three fights.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum admitted that Davis was having difficulty gaining 140 pounds and suggested that the problem may still exist.

“Well, obviously he has issues at 140,” Arum told Fighthype. “The problem is the next category is seven pounds. That’s a gigantic difference.”

Arum also compared Friday’s setback to the loss of Davis, who was previously more than four pounds compact before his canceled fight with De Los Santos last year.

“It was inexcusable because he was five pounds overweight,” Arum said.

“He is now 0.1 weight off which he will improve and get down to 140 or less.”

Keyshawn was later asked by DAZN what he told Albright during Friday’s matchup.

“I didn’t say anything,” Davis said. “That’s what I do. I knock people out.”

When asked what kind of performance he expected in the rematch, Keyshawn gave a compact answer.

“An unexpected spectacle.”

There was already bad blood in the rematch after their first fight in October 2023 was later changed to a no-contest after Keyshawn tested positive for marijuana. Their original meeting initially resulted in Keyshawn winning by a majority vote.

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