Boxing Notes: Ryan Garcia’s Return to the Top Opens the Door for Crucial Rematch

News, notes and observations from a busy weekend in boxing …

🥊 With his status as a top fighter on the line on Saturday, Ryan Garcia submitted a career-defining performance, masterfully outboxing Mario Barrios en route to a decision win for the title. Garcia, known for his powerful left hook, clipped Barrios repeatedly with the right hand, ricocheting one off the top of Barrios’s head in the first round that put Barrios down less than a minute into the fight. Garcia landed a career-best 82 jabs, per CompuBox, while connecting on 103 power shots to secure his first major world championship.

Garcia’s return to the top level immediately triggered a rush of opponents eager to face him. Garcia called out Shakur Stevenson, who watched the fight from ringside, and there will be discussions about making a fight between Garcia and Stevenson, who last month defeated Teofimo Lopez to win a 140-pound title. Stevenson has insisted that the fight be at a 144-pound catchweight, while telling Sports Illustrated that he would not demand any rehydration clause.

While Garcia-Stevenson is big, the bigger fight is a rematch between Garcia and Devin Haney. In 2024, Garcia defeated Haney by majority decision, knocking Haney down three times. That decision was overturned to a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for a banned substance. Haney rebounded last November, defeating Brian Norman Jr. to win a welterweight title. And while Haney has insisted he is not interested in the rematch, the controversy from the first fight coupled with the bad blood between the two makes a potential rematch among the top fights that can be made in boxing.

🥊 Credit Garcia for coming through against Barrios. But save some for Garcia’s father, Henry, who put together a terrific game plan that included a heavy dose of the right hand. As Henry has often noted he is undefeated as Ryan’s trainer—the two went 15–0 as a tandem in the pros before Henry stepped aside for more experienced trainers to take the lead over the last seven years—and the two appeared in lockstep in the corner between rounds on Saturday. Garcia has cycled through several coaches in recent years, bouncing from Eddy Reynoso to Joe Goossen to Derrick James. The biggest win of his career, though, comes with the most familiar voice in his corner.

🥊 The big news in boxing last week: Conor Benn, fresh off a win over Chris Eubank Jr., signing with the Dana White–fronted Zuffa Boxing. It’s a one-fight, $15 million deal for Benn, sources with knowledge of the contract told SI, with $4 million of it paid up front. Zuffa is exploring adding Benn to the Netflix-streamed Tyson Fury–Arslanbek Makhmudov undercard in April, sources say.

Benn’s decision sent a shockwave through British boxing and infuriated Matchroom Boxing, his former promoter. Matchroom Chairman Eddie Hearn told reporters he was “devastated” by Benn’s decision. CEO Frank Smith said, “I always thought Conor had this kind of thing in him. That’s the character he is.” Barry Hearn, Matchroom’s founder, called Benn’s exit “classless.”

I see both sides. Matchroom’s connection to Benn runs deeper than with most fighters. They developed him as a raw prospect with a big name—Benn is the son of former champion Nigel Benn—into a championship-level fighter. When Benn tested positive for a banned substance in 2022, Matchroom stood by him. Hearns says he has loaned Benn hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. After Benn’s win over Eubank Jr.—the second of a two-fight deal Matchroom negotiated—he appeared to be on the cusp of becoming a major star.

Still, this offer was big. Life-changing. Benn will collect eight figures and hit free agency again before the summer. He will face a top-level opponent but he will have a say in who it is. That’s hard to pass up. Benn remains open to working with Matchroom in the future, telling reporters in Las Vegas that he had hoped to retain Hearn in an advisory role in this Zuffa deal. We’ll see in the coming months if Matchroom feels the same.

🥊 Representatives for Richardson Hitchins and Oscar Duarte have had preliminary talks about rescheduling a 140-pound title fight, sources told SI. Hitchins and Duarte were scheduled to meet in the co-main event on Saturday before Hitchins fell ill following the IBF-mandated second-day weigh-in. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez, who represents Duarte, told SI that it is his preference to reschedule the fight.

Should Hitchins? The IBF’s second-day weigh-in—which requires fighters to weigh within 10 pounds of the official weight—has been enormously problematic for Hitchins. In 2024, Hitchins struggled to make the weight for a fight against Gustavo Lemos. Hitchins retained his title but faded badly in the second half of the fight. Hitchins was “devastated” by the fight falling out, a source close to him said and his instinct will likely be to reschedule the fight with Duarte, who blisteringly criticized him the last few days. Still, Hitchins will have to decide if it’s worth putting his body through what it takes to make the weight under the IBF rules.

Claressa Shields, right, throws a punch against Franchon Crews-Dezurn — Claressa Shields beat Franchón Crews-Dezurn by unanimous decision on Sunday. | Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

🥊 Takeaways from Claressa Shields’s one-sided win over Franchón Crews-Dezurn on Sunday? One is that Shields, 30, is a bona fide attraction in Detroit, drawing more than 17,000 fans to Little Caesar’s Arena, her fourth time fighting in the venue. Many of Shields’s supporters are less fans of boxing than of Shields, showing up solely for the Flint native and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Few fighters, male or female, can draw the kind of crowds Shields can.

Another? Shields is untouchable at these higher weight classes. Shields and Crews-Dezurn fought in 2016, in what was the pro debut for both women. Shields won that fight by shutout. Ten years later, the result was the same. Crews-Dezurn was game early, trading haymakers with Shields over the first two rounds. But Shields’s stamina, speed and accuracy took over, allowing her to cruise to another wide decision.

Can anyone challenge Shields? Shadasia Green is a titleholder at 168-pounds and Shields expressed interest in dropping down in weight for the fight. But the real test could come even lower, against Mikaela Mayer. Mayer, Shield’s former Olympic teammate, became the unified champion at 154-pounds last year. Representatives for the two fighters have discussed what would be a tremendously marketable matchup, Mayer told SI on Sunday. Mayer could even wind up on a Shields undercard, potentially to challenge for a 160-pound title.

The sticking point could be the weight. Shields told me in the ring on Sunday that she wants the fight at “162 or 163 pounds.” Mayer insists it only happens at 160. Both Shields and Mayer are ranked in the top five in every reputable pound-for-pound list. If it can be made, a Shields-Mayer fight—which Mayer says she will come to Detroit for—is arguably the best fight that can be made in women’s boxing.

🥊 Leigh Wood defeated Josh Warrington by a wide decision on Saturday, picking up his second straight win over his domestic rival. For Warrington, it was his fourth loss in his last five fights and should be the end of the line. Wood should consider retirement, too. He has two knockout losses in his last five fights and while he avenged one, to Mauricio Lara, he’s taken a lot of punishment. Defeating Warrington in Nottingham is a nice way to go out.

🥊 Finally, proof you can win by losing. On Saturday, Joshua Edwards, a former U.S. Olympian and heavyweight prospect, defeated Brandon Colantonio by unanimous decision. But while Edwards got the win it was Colantonio, a burly, hairy Canadian, who won the crowd, battling the far more talented Edwards until the final bell before giving one of the best postfight interviews you will see Memo to promoters out there with heavyweight prospects you want to test: Give Brandon Colantonio—the “true Canadian champ”—a call.

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