American says upcoming title fight will be last under current promoter.
Later this week, Ryan Garcia will be taking on Mario Barrios, the current holder of the WBC welterweight title.
Barrios’s record stands at 29-2-2, with his two defeats coming against Keith Thurman and Gervonta Davis in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
His two draws, on the other hand, have come in his last two fights, which were title defences against Abel Ramos and a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao.
A champion’s first two title defences being draws is certainly a very odd thing. Both Garcia and Barrios will be hoping to break that two-draw streak when they square off on Saturday.
Garcia is also an uncommon case. Rarely has there been such a popular fighter–especially an American one–who has never been a world champion.
Garcia’s fight against Devin Haney would have been for the WBC super-lightweight title had he not come in weighing over the agreed limit for the fight. If he’d have made weight, he would have won the title had he not also failed a pre- and post-fight drug test that overturned his three-knockdown win to a no-contest.
After serving a year-long ban, Garcia fought Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for the WBA (Regular) welterweight title and lost a decision in a fight he was also knocked down in. Romero’s “(Regular)” title was later upgraded to the full belt after Jaron Ennis chose to move up in weight.
Garcia will now get his third opportunity at becoming a champion against Barrios, but it seems he may not be with his current promoter whether he succeeds or not.
In an interview with “One Night With Steiny”, Garcia was asked if he is currently with Golden Boy Promotions, to which he replied, “I am currently, but after this fight, I’ll be sort of a free agent.”
If this is true, Ryan Garcia’s star power will likely have promoters scrambling to sign him, especially if he becomes world champion by beating Mario Barrios.
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