WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios says he’s not sure Ryan Garcia deserves a title shot against him when he returns from his suspension in 2025.
Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) says that because Ryan tested positive for a banned PED, he’s not sure he wants to participate with him. He feels that Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) should come back and get some fights under his belt before considering defending his WBC 147-lb title against him.
Interestingly, Barrios will make a title defense of his WBC belt against Abel Ramos (28-6-2, 22 KOs), a fighter with a 1-2 record in their last three fights, when they meet on November 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
If Ryan doesn’t deserve a title shot, why was Ramos given the opportunity to challenge Barrios for his WBC belt? Ramos has lost two of his last three fights to Cody Crowley and Luke Santamaria. Where are the standards for that fight? Maybe Ryan needs to start losing the way Ramos is to get a title shot against Barrios.
“Is it really worth it? If it comes back. Yes, it would be good money,” said Mario Barrios to the media when asked if he wants to defend his WBC welterweight title against Ryan Garcia next year when he returns from his suspension.
Barrios was recently elevated to full WBC champion outside the ring. He didn’t actually win his welterweight title. He won the interim WBC belt against Yordenis Ugas last year on September 30 and was later elevated to full champion. It’s not the ideal way to become a champion, but Barrios didn’t turn it down.
“Hopefully, he comes back and gets on his shit, and gets some of the fights he wants,” Barrios said of Ryan Garcia. “It’s weird. The whole thing with Haney and him. He looks dirty. Regardless, as a fighter, I have my own opinion on it. It’s fucking.”
Barrios can’t think about things. The money he would get to fight Ryan Garcia would be far more than he would get to defend against Abel Ramos or whoever PBC digs for him after that fight in 2025.
If Barrios is going to reject Ryan, he may regret it later because he is not a good enough fighter to hold his WBC title for a while without being protected by his management. We have already seen rusty ring Keith Thurman beat Barrios by a one-sided decision of 12 rounds coming off a two and a half year layoff on February 5, 2022. Before that, Barrios was knocked out in the 11th round. by Gervonta Davis on June 26, 2021.
Barrios has won his last three fights since, defeating reporter Jovanie Santiago, Yordenis Ugas and Fabian Maidana. Ugas was coming off a KO loss to Errol Spence in a fight in which he suffered an eye injury. It wasn’t the fresh Ugas who had lost a controversial 12-round decision to Shawn Porter on March 9, 2019.
“Like I said. If he comes back, cleans up, and continues to have success, yes, I would welcome a fight with him,” said Barrios. “As a fighter, we put our lives on the line every time we go in there. I think it shows more about your character than who you are for.”
Chances are Barrios won’t be the WBC champion much longer. So, if their promoters think about things clearly, they should give Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney a title shot in 2025, if one of those popular fighters shows interest. Even Regis Prograis would be an upgrade for Barrios to Ramos and the guys he’s faced since his loss to Thurman in 2022.
“I get it. I think it’s a little over the top, but I get it,” Barrios said of his thoughts on Haney suing Ryan. “Our lives are on the line. They are going in an interesting way. I don’t know. My team deals with all that. They carry the fights for me. We just have to the way that makes the most sense.
“I think Ryan Garcia is a good fighter. He has a lot of attributes about him that are really great in the ring. What’s happened in the last year or two. Yeah, I know I don’t,” said Barrios when he asked if he didn’t want to be involved in Ryan’s situation.
