Saturday Night Boxing: Opinions and Observations: Barrios-Garcia

In the opening seconds of Saturday's Mario Barrios-Ryan Garcia welterweight title fight, Garcia, the noted left-hooker, uncorked two menacing lead right hands to drop Barrios. Throughout his career, Garcia had often been so left-hand dominant that he had fights where his right hand was just an unnecessary appendage to his body. But there he was on Saturday, not just throwing rights, but delivering them with spite and confidence.

While many of us might have been shocked by how Garcia started the fight, Barrios’ trainer, Joe Goossen, who used to work with Garcia, wasn't one of them. During the DAZN broadcast, Chris Mannix asked Goossen about Garcia's lead rights and Goossen said that he had expected Garcia to come out leading with them, that Garcia would think that he was springing the element of surprise. Furthermore, Goossen stated that he had prepared Barrios for such a scenario.

As for further confirmation, when Mannix asked Barrios after the fight, which Garcia won by a wide decision, if Garcia's right hands surprised him, Barrios reiterated that he had prepared for those shots in camp.

Garcia (left) in a dominant position
Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

These telling exchanges illustrate Garcia's skillset. Despite an opponent preparing for what's coming, Garcia could still land, and with devastating consequences.

A similar scenario occurred during Garcia's win over Devin Haney, which was changed to a no-contest after Garcia failed a post-fight drug test. In that fight, Haney was well-aware of Garcia's prowess with his left hook. Just like the Barrios bout, within the first round Haney was hurt badly by the punch; he was subsequently dropped by left hooks several times in the fight.

Garcia has demonstrated throughout his career that when he's on, it may not matter what an opponent can do defensively; Garcia's speed, power and delivery system can be that impressive.

But there is also another factor in play. An early knockdown can spook an opponent, leading to inaction or forcing him to make subsequent mistakes. This same dynamic played out in Garcia's previous fight, a loss against Rolly Romero. In that bout, Garcia was dropped early by a left hook and for the rest of the fight he was unable to let his hands go. He was so bothered by Rolly's left hook that he kept his best weapon, his own left hook, holstered.

On Saturday, Garcia's knockdown led to a deer-in-the-headlights performance from Barrios. Instead of being aggressive or using angles to attack, he stood, compliantly, at mid-range, waiting for Garcia to do something. Barrios isn't a natural counterpuncher and yet he was so concerned with what might come back at him that he was reluctant to initiate.

There were other issues with Barrios as well. A telling sequence during the ninth round highlighted a major weakness in his game. At that point in the fight, Barrios already needed a knockout to win, and this had been explicitly relayed to him by Goossen in his corner. During the round, Barrios had one of his rare successful forays on the inside, where he landed several body shots. But instead of staying in close and continuing to fire off power punches, he decided to leave the pocket, go back to mid-range, and reset.

That sequence would have been perfectly acceptable in the first round of a fight, where he got some work done and then got out of range to take a breather. But in the ninth round, after being way down on the cards, this is where he needed to pounce on Garcia. But Barrios refused to engage in that type of fight.

Even when the mid-range wasn't working, Barrios still retreated to that distance. Essentially, he didn't have enough in his toolbox to try to win a fight another way. The situation called for Barrios to rough Garcia up, to riddle his body, to try to make it a dogfight. That would have been his only chance at that point of the fight, but Barrios couldn't or wouldn't do it.

Garcia celebrates the victory
Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

With the win, Garcia earned his first world title. And it's worth noting that this performance was far more than just an early-round surprise: it was a comprehensive victory. He looked as good as he ever has at the world-level, with significant improvements in punch variety, defense and conditioning.

Garcia's career has been anything but a linear progression. Despite a 25-2 record as a pro, he's had several poor performances, a knockout loss, fights where he was left hook-or-bust, bouts where his work rate was abominable, instances where his defensive mistakes and poor footwork would make even novices cringe. So often his occasional flashes of power and hand speed have saved him in fights. But Saturday was something different; he had almost everything working.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Garcia unleashed his full punch arsenal, which included lead right hands, right uppercuts, hooks to the head and body, and jabs. Garcia's defense was also not a liability. He didn't get hit with too many naked shots and one would have to strain very hard to think of a signature punch that Barrios landed in the fight.

For this fight Ryan reunited with his father, Henry, to be his lead trainer. And Henry made a lasting impact. He had Ryan working throughout the match. Garcia contested every round and didn't take any of those prolonged breaks that have plagued him in the past. He was switched on all fight and wasn't lazy with his offense.

Although it's true that Barrios didn't offer much on Saturday, it's also true that Garcia demonstrated that he was levels above a reigning beltholder. There will be tougher matches to come for Garcia, but for now he has reminded the boxing world, and himself, that when he's right, both physically and mentally, he's a real threat in the upper reaches of the sport. Saturday was a great step forward for Garcia's career and earned him millions more for his upcoming fights against his pick of opponents. A comprehensive victory indeed!