Mario Barrios put his WBC welterweight boxing world championship on the line Saturday in a headline fight against challenger Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But left without it, capitulating to the challenger in every round with a timid performance, as Garcia picked him apart with ease to showcase a strong right hand to go along with his more trademark left hook.
The Ring Magazine event, a co-promotion involving Golden Boy Promotions and TGB Promotions, was rocked earlier today, as Richardson Hitchins was forced to withdraw from his super lightweight IBF title defense against Oscar Duarte, citing illness. Duarte representative Oscar de la Hoya, though, didn’t buy that as an excuse, and said it was “fishy,” as if Hitchins had lost the nerve to compete. Whether that’s true remains to be seen but the Golden Boy founder plans to lobby the IBF for an immediate rematch.
Elsewhere, Gary Antuanne Rusell edged Andy Hiraoka at super lightweight, Frank Martin and Nahi Albright had a war, and Bektemir Melikuziev collided with Sena Agbeko at super middleweight.
It was an action-packed card broadcast on DAZN pay-per-view, and you can keep scrolling for all the updates, highlights, and analysis through the main card.
Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia — WBC welterweight championship
Helluva way to get ready for a fight. Few go harder than El Azteca when it comes to the ring-walk game.
But KingRy had his own way to make a beat from no drum.
Round 1 — Ryan Garcia drops Mario Barrios in only three or four punches, showcasing extraordinary power with immediate effect! My goodness! Garcia had only really punched him either side of the head, and to the body, and he dropped him! Now he swarms Barrios after the defending champion gets to his feet, recovering fast enough. Renowned for his left hook, Garcia showed love for his right, landing enough to test Barrios. Garcia throws with such velocity! This is edge-of-the-seat stuff, people!
Garcia 10-8 Barrios.
Round 2 — Barrios showed intuitive movement to dip under Garcia’s whipping hook at the start of the second. The referee warned Garcia for hitting the back of the head. Barrios lunged at the body with his jab when the fight was back on. Garcia gets Barrios with the uppercut but he replies nice enough with a two shot combo. Garcia fires later with a flurry of five shots but Barrios sends a dagger to his body.
Garcia 20-17 Barrios
Round 3 — Garcia drops another solid two-shot combo on Barrios’s head and then bounces back to safety. Barrios fizzes hopeless shots at the air. Garcia keeps his elbows tight to his body to cushion the champ’s shots to the midsection. Barrios does eventually land one. Garcia’s right hands keep landing. Sensing Barrios in danger, the challenger throws three shots in quick succession and then again finishing with that razor-sharp right.
Garcia 30-26 Barrios
Round 4 — Garcia tallies a total of 39 power punches to Barrios’s nine by the fourth, showing how big a difference a speed advantage can have. Barrios throws a nasty right hand to Garcia’s heart. Garcia baits Barrios into a huge right hand as KingRy takes advantage of an opponent slow on their feet. Garcia’s jab is like a piston. Barrios replies with a right hook to the body but it’s not anywhere near enough.
Garcia 40-35 Barrios
Round 5 — Garcia, back to the fight with a bang with his right hand, batters Barrios with it to stagger the champion! He stays standing despite Garcia’s onslaught. Left hook to the belly button. Barrios tries to tie it up. Garcia is just bullying him over and over. Garcia baits Barrios again, then hits him with hooks to either side of the head.
Garcia 50-44 Barrios
Round 6 — Garcia drops him in the sixth with a body shot and then a shove, so the referee ruled out the knockdown. Garcia hits Barrios with a one-two, beats him to solitary shots, and simply moves away from Barrios’s attacks. The challenger kept targeting the body and looked far more disciplined, winning every round, compared to his performance in the lopsided loss to Rolando Romero.
Garcia 60-53 Barrios
Round 7 — It didn’t matter what Garcia tried, hitting him with surprise singles, or thundering four and five-shot flurries at Barrios, he always seemed to land.
Garcia 70-62 Barrios
Round 8 — Garcia’s jab rocked Barrios’s head back. He caught him with one-twos every minute. It’s all just target practice and easy work for a multi-dimensional Garcia.
Garcia 80-71 Barrios
Rounds 9 to 11 — Outside a brief Barrios rally, the one-way traffic continued long into the fight, as Barrios offered no alternative to a stationary approach that only attracted the most punishing of Garcia’s punching. In the 10th, Garcia had to escape an attack with his back to the ropes, and largely outboxed Barrios for the rest of the round.
Round 12 — An impressive and disciplined domination of Barrios from Garcia. After an erratic few years, both inside and outside the ropes, this was arguably one of his greatest performances, and he’s a WBC welterweight world champion because of it. A statement to the division.
The ring announcer confirmed Garcia’s win with scores of 120-107, 119-108, and 118-109.
“You know who I want,” said Garcia, making it clear who he wants to fight in his first world title defense. “He’s right there. Shakur Stevenson … let’s go. I want that fight. Shakur, let’s get it.”
Gary Antuanne Russell vs Andy Hiraoka — super lightweight
Andy Hiraoka walks to the ring to Michael Jackson, wearing his signature red leather, too, after flying to Las Vegas late, overcoming Visa issues only days before his super lightweight fight against Gary Antuanne Russell.
Rounds 1 to 3 — Hiraoka’s lean stance sees him leverage snappy jabs as Russell boxes lower, looking for a way in through a disciplined guard. Russell clatters Hiaroka from mid-range to inside positions, with the Japanese fighting having advantages with length.
Rounds 4 to 6 — Russell clatters Hiraoka from mid-range to inside positions. Hiraoka came forward more frequently in the fifth, and they had a nice inside ruck by the ropes. Russell caught Hiraoka coming in, then thumped him to the body, too.
Round 7 — The crowd grew louder in the seventh as Hiraoka pummeled Russell to the body, landing with aplomb. An inside war broke out in the middle of the ring. And now Martin makes Hiraoka wince with a body shot of his own! Hiraoka retreats. Russell’s footwork gets him closer. Russell finishes strong, but this could turn into a slog.
Rounds 8 to 9 — Few are as fluid as Russell whose stance looks silky smooth, snapping landing jabs, and returning to position. But Hiraoka has adjusted after Russell’s start, taking something out of the American from the body punching, and changing the narrative of the fight. Hiraoka always had height and length but now it was like greater size was coming into play, too.
Round 10 — Hiraoka goes low, and it’s left unpunished. But then it happens again and the referee finally takes a point! That could make a difference with it being a competitive fight in the ring. Russell didn’t like either foul, and even when they were told to box, he still looked like he was carrying pain. He held on to hear the bell.
Rounds 11 to 12 — Russell landed sweet shots in the first half of the 11th. The ref was heard reminding Hiraoka to not go low during some close-range action, but then popped Russell pretty nicely before the bell. Russell lands a double hook two-shot combo in the 12th, starting the final round with authority. There are times when Hiraoka misses so badly it looks like he never even had a hope to land. Hiraoka finishes the round with a swarm of shots, slugging away at Russell perhaps hoping to steal it late.
Russell takes the dub with scores of 117-110, 116-111, 116-111.
Frank Martin vs Nahir Albright — super lightweight
As Frank Martin walked to the ring, DAZN’s commentators talked about rumors backstage, suggesting that, when Oscar Duarte found out his co-main event was off the card because Richardson Hitchins withdrew citing illness, the 140-pound fighter, from Robert Garcia’s Southern Californian stable, requested Martin as a late-minute replacement. ‘The Ghost’, though, retains his initial opponent Nahir Albright, and they’re about to punch lumps out of one another right now.
Rounds 1 to 3 — Though Frank Martin carries greater name-value into an American ring than Albright, it was Nahir who started sharp, touching Martin from range. In the second, Martin countered Albright, who stood and happily traded. After Martin low-blowed, Albright responded with a solid right over the top in the third, and approached the fight in a physical way, making things rough for Frank. Albright sent a three-shot combo Martin’s way, and then punished him with a body shot after the break. Albright could be 2-1 up after three.
Rounds 4 to 6 — Martin rallied in the fourth, bringing it back to two rounds apiece for me. He countered Albright in the fifth, again with a short-range right. Albright boxed from the middle, staying active, but yet got cracked, heavy, with a left hook right at the bell. Martin started the sixth with flurrying action and scoring shots. Martin’s speed, footwork, and accuracy now seemed able to foil Albright through the rest of the night. Martin likely up 4-2 by now.
Round 7 — And the fight erupts! It had been threatening to do so all night, as they were evenly-matched and showcasing good skills in different parts of the night, but Albright rallies, answering Martin with body shots of his own, and a general bullying nature in and around the clinch. And a right hand and left hook combo from Albright, which landed flush on Martin’s jaw! Heck, yeah. What a round. 4-3 to Martin, still.
Round 8 to 9 — Albright’s pullback prevailed into the eighth even if the pace of the fight had waned, somewhat, leveling it up on Boxing’s Social’s unofficial scorecard before the ninth. Oh! Albright’s buzzed Martin! But Martin fights back brilliantly, exposing a cut by Albright’s eye. Awesome response from Martin to reclaim the lead for me. 5-4 Martin, going into the 10th and final round.
Round 10 — Martin had been fighting so well but then Albright banged him in the 10th, buckling his legs! He could go! Martin falls and the referee has to intervene, but as action resumes, Albright is all over him again! Left hook! What a weapon! Can he drop him in the final round?! The referee asks Albright what he’s doing when he loses his mouthpiece. Bite down and throw. The break allowed Martin to recover, and he boxes his way back into the round. The drama! 10 seconds left. This could be 5-5. I need a cigarette.
These scorecards could be wild.
But all the judges are in agreement. They all say it’s 95-95! Unanimous draw.
“I could have done a lot better,” Martin said. “He’s actually awkward, good fighter. His movement is good, and difficult, some pop on his punches, too. He brought a better side to him than I thought. I knew he’d be tough, but … he threw different stuff in the mix. It made the fight a lot more challenging than I thought it would be.”
Martin asked the crowd if they thought they should run it back and, after they cheered, he nodded at Albright, who locked eyes with him and nodded back. “Yeah, yeah,” Martin finished.
“We’re going to come back stronger,” Albright said in response to a draw, before singing sweetly on the mic even better than a post-fight Tyson Fury or Rafael Espinoza. Phenomenal pipes on the fella. I now wish he’d won, dang it.
I need you to see this.
They better drop it on X.
Performance of the night:
Bektemir Melikuziev vs Sena Agbeko — super middleweight
Shakur Stevenson spent the break between fights to talk-up Bektemir Melikuziev, who he is very familiar with, saying they won amateur championships around the world together, and so the American built up great respect for Bek during that time, calling him “a great fighter.” Stevenson added that he loves watching him fight as he has such an exciting style to watch.
Round 1 — Melikuziev commanded the middle of the ring from the off, with Agbeko’s back and shoulders flirting with the ropes as he moved around the ring. Bektemir’s aggression prevented Agbeko from commanding the ring. Agbeko hit Melikuziev with a sweet two-shot combo. Then an overhand right. But Melikuziev landed a solid left hand. More punches. More variety. Both from Bek. A solid opening round for him, taking the first 10-9.
Rounds 2 to 3 — Clear power differential in the second round, with Melikuziev landing clean shots to the body, and unfurling four-shot combos to the face, too. Agbeko stayed in it, but just as he started landing one punch, or two, Bektemir began flurrying to greater avail. In the third, Agbeko fared badly, still, almost like he was a stationary target as Melikuziev unloaded with malice.
Rounds 4 to 5 — Agbeko’s corner well aware that Agbeko is barely doing enough to survive, let alone compete, or thrive, warning him he needs to do something, throw something. But its Melikuziev who finishes the fourth in far stronger form, unfurling brutal body blow after brutal body blow.
Round 6 — Though Melikuziev is bloodied himself, by the sixth, he’s caused grotesque swelling on Agbeko’s eye. And Bektemir keeps clubbing him over the head with his fists, ricocheting one gnarly shot off the tempo, wobbling Agbeko’s legs.
Round 7 — And Melikuziev wobbles Agbeko again in the seventh! Agbeko’s doing an awkward dance around the ring! Bektemir steps in. It was the left hook that does it, and now he preys on Agbeko! HE’S DROPPED! AGBEKO IS ON THE FLOOR! Melikuziev finally gets his knockdown! Agbeko’s on his feet. Referee allows him to continue … and then calls it off after the first punch! What a finish.
Melikuziev, who advances to 17-1 (11 KOs), said: “I hope this is one step closer to a world championship fight.”
Check this out for outside the ropes drama:
An hour later:
Amari Jones vs Luis Arias — middleweight
The unrelenting pressure from Amari Jones proved to be too much for Luis Arias in the opening three rounds as the middleweight prospect put extraordinary pressure on his more experienced opponent, landing incredibly powerful punches again and again.
Jones showed no respect for Arias’s power, who was by no means a sitting duck, as he had his moments, but those moments were few and far between. Jones was dominant in the second round, catching him with a left hook, and had Arias again on the canvas in fifth as he gave a merciless beatdown to try and force the referee Harvey Dock’s hand.
Ultimately, Arias’s corner had seen enough and withdrew him from the fight while he sat on his stool, after five rounds and before the sixth. With the win, another finish for the Golden Boy stud, he advances his pro record to 16-0 (14 KOs).
“I did a helluva job,” Jones said after his win. “Arias has only been stopped once. He was shaky, but his corner made him stop the fight.”
“I want to cement myself as a prospect and contender, and I think I did that tonight.”
