Ryan Garcia Sets New Career High in Dominant Title Win Over Mario Barrios

Ryan Garcia found himself in a do-or-die position in his WBC welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios and delivered the best performance of his career.

Garcia not only beat Barrios with his power, flooring the champion 23 seconds into the fight, but he also showed off a few new wrinkles to his game. For the first time in his career, Garcia fought behind his jab, landing 82 of them on Barrios, which marked a new career-high, according to Compubox and DAZN Boxing.

The 82 jabs were also the most ever landed by a Barrios opponent, per Compubox. Garcia landed 19 more jabs than Barrios, which was a development few saw coming.

A career high # of jabs for @RyanGarcia 👑#TheRingHighStakes | @ringmagazine pic.twitter.com/Zl3fhMPLdm
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 22, 2026

Garcia was favored to beat Barrios, but not many predicted a 12-round masterclass. While the 27-year-old is always capable of a highlight-reel knockout, he proved in his last loss to Rolando 'Rolly' Romero that he can struggle to set up his power shots.

Although Garcia almost knocked Barrios out from the jump, he remained within himself and out-boxed Barrios all night. Only one judge gave him all 12 rounds, but none of the judges gave more than two to Barrios.

The performance was easily the best of Garcia's career, even better than his previous win over Devin Haney, which would later be overturned to a no-contest. 'King Ryan' is now the newest welterweight champion, joining Haney, Romero and Lewis Crocker.

Ryan Garcia wants Shakur Stevenson after dominating Mario Barrios

Garcia and his team are so confident in the new champion's improvement that they called out Shakur Stevenson after the win. Stevenson, fresh off a big victory over Teofimo Lopez, is known for his bulletproof defense and potent jab.

Stevenson's jab was his primary weapon against Lopez, landing 105 of them in his recent victory to just 16 in return. The jab helped Stevenson out-land Lopez 165-72 in one of the most lopsided title fights in recent years.

Regardless of that performance, Garcia's father, Henry Garcia, now believes his son has a better jab than Stevenson. After Ryan Garcia called out Stevenson in the ring, Henry Garcia claimed his fighter would walk through the WBO and The Ring welterweight champion backstage.

"We hit him with a body shot, he's done," Henry Garcia said, via FightHype. "And he doesn't have a better jab than my son. My son has an awesome jab. We beat him in the amateurs with the jab."

Ryan Garcia practically pleaded with Stevenson to fight him next, but the latter did not show much interest in the matchup. Stevenson used his own post-fight callout on Conor Benn, but has also stated his interest in returning to the lightweight division.

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