Ryan Garcia won the WBC welterweight championship on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, defeating Mario Barrios by unanimous decision. The victory marked Garcia’s first major world title and represented a steadying moment after a period of scrutiny, as he delivered a confident performance in a new weight class.Garcia made an immediate impact by knocking down Barrios within the opening 30 seconds of the fight, setting the tone for the contest. Barrios struggled to cope with Garcia’s hand speed and agility, as the champion showcased a sharper and more complete attacking range than in recent fights. Garcia consistently landed the cleaner punches and maintained control through much of the bout.Although Barrios recovered from the early knockdown, he was unable to establish sustained rhythm or build meaningful momentum. Garcia’s speed and sharp counterpunching allowed him to dictate the pace, steadily accumulating points as the rounds progressed and preventing Barrios from shifting the direction of the fight.The judges’ scorecards reflected Garcia’s control, awarding him wide margins of 119–108, 120–107 and 118–109. The unanimous decision left little doubt about the outcome and confirmed Garcia as the new WBC welterweight champion.In his post-fight interview, Garcia quickly turned his attention to potential future opponents, calling out newly crowned WBO super-lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who was in attendance at the arena.“You know who I want, he’s right there. Shakur Stevenson, let’s go,” Garcia said.Stevenson acknowledged the callout with a smile from ringside as Garcia continued.“I want to be a great champion, I’m not scared. I fought Devin Haney. I’ll fight you, Shakur Stevenson. I’ll fight anybody.”The performance against Barrios, combined with his comments after the fight, suggested Garcia is eager to build momentum and define the next phase of his career through high-profile matchups.
