Ryan Garcia Pinpoints the Mario Barrios Advantage That Will Also Be His Downfall

For the first time in nearly a decade, Ryan Garcia will fight an opponent taller than him when he locks horns with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. Despite the unique challenge, Garcia believes the height difference will benefit him.

The 5-foot-9 Garcia believes he has always done better against taller fighters in sparring, which he expects to carry over against the six-foot-tall Barrios. 'King Ry' claimed the height difference will lead to a "disgusting" knockout for him on Feb. 21.

"If history repeats itself and patterns show, I knock out these type of taller people in disgusting fashion," Garcia said in a DAZN Boxing interview. "Every time I've sparred or fought a taller guy, they just get clipped. Maybe because their s***'s a little bit higher and I got to hit 'em, I don't know. That's kind of what I've noticed in my lifetime every time I've sparred a taller person."

Ryan Garcia on Mario Barrios’s height advantage:

“I knock out taller people. Every time I have sparred or fought a taller guy, they get clipped" pic.twitter.com/JV7A0ugAVh
— Boxing Kingdom (@BoxingKingdom14) February 13, 2026

Garcia has only fought one fighter taller than him in his professional career. He was the shorter man in the ring against Cesar Alan Valenzuela, whom he defeated by third-round TKO in November 2017.

Although Garcia is not the tallest welterweight, he has spent most of his professional career to date at lightweight. He officially moved up to 140 pounds in 2022, one year after beating Luke Campbell to claim the WBC interim lightweight title, a belt he would never defend.

Garcia subsequently moved up to 147 pounds for his last fight, a loss to Rolando 'Rolly' Romero for the vacant WBA welterweight title. He made the move after missing weight for his previous bout with Devin Haney, which made him ineligible to win Haney's WBC super lightweight championship.

Ryan Garcia facing multiple obstacles in Mario Barrios matchup

Garcia will face multiple unique challenges against Barrios, beyond the champion's size.

Although both fighters are clearly flawed, Barrios' secret weapon has been leading his camp from the jump. Barrios joined forces with legendary trainer Joe Goossen in late 2025 to prepare for this fight. Goossen previously trained Garcia for three fights from 2022 to 2023.

The trainer drama has clearly bothered Garcia, who called Goossen a "traitor" at the press conference. Garcia has also accused Goossen of being a "mole," claiming he leaked an injury to Gervonta Davis' team before their 2023 fight. Garcia fired Goossen as his trainer after his loss to Davis, which was the first of his professional career.

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