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02/22 00:25 CST Ryan Garcia beats Mario Barrios by unanimous decision to win
the WBC welterweight title
Ryan Garcia beats Mario Barrios by unanimous decision to win the WBC
welterweight title
By MARK ANDERSON
AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) --- Ryan Garcia is an immensely talented boxer who has gone
through his share of personal and professional turmoil in his young career,
dominated Mario Barrios on Saturday night to win by unanimous decision and
capture the WBC welterweight championship.
Garcia (25-2, 20 knockouts) of Victorville, California, left little doubt he
deserved the title, with the judges scoring the fight 119-108, 120-107 and
118-109. The Associated Press scored it 119-109.
This was the second underwhelming bout in a row for Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs) of
San Antonio, who was fortunate to escape with a majority draw victory over
Manny Pacquiao last July.
In the co-main event, Gary Antuanne Russell (19-1, 17 KOs) of Capitol Heights,
Maryland, retained his WBA super lightweight title with a unanimous decision
over Japan's Andy Hiraoka (24-1, 19 KOs). The judges scored the fight 117-110,
116-111 and 116-111. Hiraoka was penalized a point in the 10th round for
delivering a punch below the belt that caused a short stoppage.
Richardson Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) of New York was scheduled to defend his IBF
super lightweight belt against Oscar Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs) of Mexico, but
pulled out of the fight citing an illness. That bout was supposed to be the
co-main event. There was no immediate word on whether Hitchins would forfeit
his title for the late cancellation.
Garcia, a -250 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook, went to work right away, knocking
down Barrios with an overhand right just 30 seconds into the bout. He didn't
recklessly try to finish off Barrios, however, patiently using combination to
the champion's head. One such combo late in the third round briefly staggered
Barrios.
As Garcia kept picking his spots, the 30-year-old Barrios had no real answers
to counter the attack. Barrios occasionally landed a right, but nothing seemed
to slow down Garcia.
Perhaps sensing his opponent might be in trouble, Garcia went hard after
Barrios in the fifth round, attacking him from the opening bell. He delivered
multiple shots to Barrios' head, but unlike that first-round knockdown, nothing
sent him to the canvass. There was little doubt, though, which fighter was in
charge.
Garcia even looked over at Barrios' corner in the 10th round, perhaps sending a
message to his former trainer, Joe Goosen. Henry Garcia, the fighter's dad,
returned as his after Garcia worked under some others.
Likely knowing he was well ahead on the scorecards, Garcia was more
conservative over the final rounds. The largely pro-Garcia crowd went to its
feet over the final 30 seconds to cheer on their favorite boxer.
This has been quite a three-year stretch for Garcia, suspended for a year and
fined $1 million by the New York State Athletic Commission for allegedly using
performance-enhancing drugs in a win over Devin Haney. The WBC also expelled
Garcia for a few months for using racial and ethnic slurs, and he also had his
share of legal issues.
Beyond that, the 27-year-old Garcia also needed to bounce back from his most
recent fight, a unanimous-decision loss to Rolando Romero in New York's Times
Square.
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
