AT 27 YEARS old, Ryan Garcia has two of the three things most fighters his age would do almost anything to have: money and power.
With over 12.5 million followers on Instagram, he’s one of the most popular American boxers on the platform, behind Jake Paul (28.8 million), Floyd Mayweather (29.2 million) and Mike Tyson (33.9 million). Garcia has proved to be box-office gold as his 2023 knockout loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis generated the sixth-largest gate for a U.S. boxing match at $22.8 million and reportedly generated more than 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.
His celebrity status has translated into a financial windfall of opportunities, ranging from lucrative sponsorships to runway modeling. Still, the one thing that has eluded him in his 10-year professional career is a world championship.
And with that, the third thing Garcia still fights for today is respect.
“I’m a little different and did things backward in my career,” Garcia told ESPN ahead of Saturday’s fight with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. “I’m now planning to grab as many world titles as I possibly can to complete the picture of my entire career. This is the last piece of that puzzle. A world champion means you are the best in the world, and being the best in the world is what God originally set me out to accomplish.”
There was a time when Garcia suggested that he would retire from boxing by age 26 to pursue other endeavors, but he has since realized that rushing to the finish line didn’t allow him to develop as a boxer. He needed to slow down, refocus on the sport he loves and take his time to properly prepare to seize opportunities with his father reclaiming the role as his lead trainer.
“I thought I could speedrun through boxing and get everything that I wanted out of the way by a certain age,” Garcia reported. “Obviously, I was wrong, but everything has happened quick for me my whole life. I wanted a megafight and I got it against Gervonta Davis. All I wanted to do was fight the best fighters in the world and get it done fast, but things change, and I now understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Since Garcia helped pack 20,842 fans inside a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the fighter out of Victorville, California, has seen his career stall. He has come up short in his most lucrative moments inside a boxing ring, going 1-1 with one no-contest since December 2023. He received a yearlong suspension for positive PED tests in April 2024 and has made a litany of controversial decisions outside of the ring that have left many outside his camp questioning his desire to be one of the best fighters in the world.
“He has all the potential in the world but then he’s hit and miss with his training, his discipline, his changing of coaches and his outside problems,” former world champion turned analyst Sergio Mora told ESPN. “That’s when you start realizing, ‘Yeah, we really don’t have that world champion that really wants to become a world champion.'”
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When he’s fully engaged, he has proved to possess unique physical skills, blinding hand speed and whipping power out of his left hook that can take out any opponent. But there’s only so long a boxer can live off potential.
“I hear what people are saying,” Garcia reported. “They say I don’t have the skills or the ability, but I’ve won my whole life. I am not a loser. I’ve won 15 national titles as an amateur, turned pro and beat a lot of good people. I lost to Gervonta Davis and had an off night against [Rolando] Rolly Romero. So what?”
There’s one exclusive club that Garcia doesn’t want to be a part of: The biggest names in boxing to never have been a world champion. It’s a club that includes Andre Dirrell, Rocky Juarez, Sam Langford, David Tua, Herol Graham, Andrew Golota and Earnie Shavers. The difference with Garcia is that none of those boxers attracted the mainstream attention Garcia has.
“I think he’s the biggest non-champion in boxing,” former two-division champion Zab Judah reported. “He’s bigger than fighters who are world champions, but he’s never crossed the line of being one of the greats because you can’t go down in history as one of the greats without becoming a world champion. He somehow broke the code of not being a world champion but is receiving the benefits of being a world champion with world champion finance and status.
“He has everything but the accolades.”
Ryan Garcia dropped Devin Haney three times in a majority decision win in April 2024, a result that was later changed to a no contest. Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty ImagesGARCIA’S CAREER BEGAN to unravel in the lead-up to his April 20, 2024, showdown with his longtime rival, then-WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney. His erratic behavior before the fight initially seemed to be a ploy to get Haney to lower his guard, but then Garcia blew his opportunity to win the title before the fight began when he came in 3.2 pounds overweight, forfeiting his championship eligibility. The fight went on as scheduled and Garcia — who entered the fight as a significant betting underdog — knocked down the undefeated Haney three times in a stunning majority decision win.
Garcia subsequently shattered all his positive momentum two weeks later when he was informed he had tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine, the day before and the day of his fight with Haney. The fight result was overturned to a no contest, and a yearlong suspension was levied by the New York State Athletic Commission. Garcia still maintains his innocence in the matter, but his reputation has faced irreparable damage.
“I was a huge fan of Ryan Garcia, and I still like him, but I don’t respect people who use banned substances to win fights,” Judah reported. “You have to be a clean fighter, no matter how hard it is to make weight or prepare. I don’t care how it got in his system; it was there. I was blown away by his tactics [failed drug test and defense of it]. I still like the kid and I wish him well but that definitely hurt how I saw him.”
While still serving his suspension, Garcia was arrested in June 2024 and later charged with one misdemeanor count of vandalism for allegedly causing an estimated $15,000 of damage to a Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills hotel room. The charge was dismissed after Garcia reimbursed the hotel.
A month after his arrest, Garcia was expelled from the WBC in July 2024 after repeatedly using racial slurs against Black people and disparaging Muslims on a social media livestream. Garcia apologized the day after his expulsion and reported he was “going to rehab,” while his family released a statement that pointed to Garcia’s “ongoing struggle with mental health over the years” and a commitment to “ensuring and encouraging that he receives the necessary help.”
Garcia was a significant betting favorite heading into his return from suspension against Romero at New York’s Times Square last May. He turned in a woeful performance against Romero and lost after being knocked down early. Garcia and Romero combined for one of the lowest punch outputs in CompuBox history for a 12-round fight, with a combined 123 punches landed out of a total of 490 punches thrown.
Unlike the failed drug test, Garcia took full responsibility for his listless performance.
“During that year off, I was super out of focus and wasn’t treating my body well,” Garcia reported. “I thought I could get my body in shape two months before the fight, and it just wasn’t working. My body was rejecting everything because of everything I did to it. I couldn’t lose the 30 pounds I gained, couldn’t get myself to train hard and I was genuinely disinterested because I realized that no matter what, my body couldn’t overcome that year of abuse.
“You saw the result in my performance, and it was all my fault.”
The loss cost Garcia a lucrative rematch with Haney, but he will still get a title opportunity Saturday against Barrios. Although Garcia has never won a fight at 147 pounds and his last win was more than two years ago at a catchweight of 143 pounds against Oscar Duarte, who had never competed in a weight class higher than 135 pounds, Garcia’s continued popularity and charisma have helped him skip the line to challenge for a world title.
“It goes to show that if you have good representation, a big following and are an exciting fighter that you can find yourself in these opportunities,” Mora reported. “The problem is that he hasn’t earned these opportunities. His popularity outweighs his success.”
Garcia doesn’t disagree with the sentiment but also suggests that he must take advantage of these opportunities presented to him, regardless of how they come about because they will eventually dry up.
“I did a lot of thinking after losing to Rolly and made a lot of lifestyle changes,” reported Garcia, who started preparing for this fight nearly seven months ago by going to the gym, abstaining from alcohol and dieting. “Every day that went by it was like, ‘Oh s—, I’m a fighter again!’ My mental was clear; I could train three times a day and my punches had their snap back. My body and mind had a breakthrough. It feels good to be in tip-top shape. I have a lot to prove in this fight, and it feels good to have my back against the wall because that’s when I’m at my best.”
Mario Barrios, left, will be defending his WBC welterweight title for the third time when he faces Ryan Garcia on Saturday. Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty ImagesALTHOUGH HE IS the WBC champion, Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) hasn’t won a fight since May 2024. His past two performances resulted in controversial draws against Abel Ramos and Manny Pacquiao, respectively, allowing him to retain his title but leaving questions as to whether he’s truly championship material. Garcia has suggested that this fight will be between two warriors with something to prove, and that is something that the battle-tested Barrios welcomes.
“I don’t think he knows what it’s like to be in a war,” Barrios reported. “When things got tough for him, he hasn’t been able to respond and make the adjustments. Retaining my title with a draw is never the style of win I want to have. I want to make him uncomfortable, exploit all of his weaknesses and turn in a sensational performance against one of the biggest names in boxing.”
In preparation for his fight with Garcia, Barrios has enlisted the services of Joe Goossen, one of Garcia’s many previous trainers. Employing his former trainer has upset Garcia, who called Goossen a “traitor” at a January news conference for the fight and promised to make him pay.
“It felt like he did all that talking to psych himself out and hype himself up,” Barrios reported. “He says that he’s ready and more dangerous than ever, but he has to answer all of those questions on fight night.”
Goossen, who has known Garcia since he was a teenager, is quite familiar with this version of the fighter.
“I was expecting this from him,” reported Goosen, who told ESPN that Garcia called him before the news conference and forewarned him of what was to come. “He can’t intimidate me. He knows that. But I think he was trying to also sell the fight. Some of it was from the heart, but some of it wasn’t.”
Garcia has returned to training with the man who brought him to a boxing gym at nine years old, his father. Henry Garcia was in Ryan’s corner throughout his amateur career and for his first 13 professional fights. As Ryan’s career progressed, he sought tutelage from other trainers, including Goossen, Derrick James and Eddy Reynoso. However, those stints didn’t last long.
“I just felt like my dad was the right person to take control of my career now,” Garcia reported. “We’ve learned from a lot of trainers, and they are all great in their own ways, but my pops being there feels like home.”
Garcia has never lost a pro fight with his father as his head trainer and believes that trend will continue against Barrios. Garcia, who was reinstated to the WBC in November, is aware of what’s at stake when he meets Barrios on Saturday. A win will prove he is more than his social media presence and has what it takes to become a world champion, while a loss validates the naysayers who shout that Garcia is more equipped for influencer boxing than a successful pro career.
“Everything that has gotten me to this point has been a learning lesson,” Garcia reported. “It took me a while to stay grounded, and I have been humbled along the way. But I think the sky is still the limit for me, man. You are going to see what a dedicated fighter can do on February 21. I cannot wait to show what level I’m at.”
Hopefully, that level is the one fans have long been waiting to see.
