• Who: Ryan Garcia vs. Mario Barrios
• Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
• When: Saturday, February 21
• How to watch: DAZN
After a long hiatus, it’s time to welcome back Ryan Garcia to the ring. That’s right, next weekend, the controversial boxer will be back in action, as he’s ready to go toe-to-toe with Mario Barrios in a highly-anticipated fight between two welterweight artists. So, who will come out on top? That’s what people can’t wait to find out, though Ryan Garcia is a strong favorite vs. Mario Barrios in their boxing bout.
This shouldn’t come as a major surprise as Garcia is going to be ready to send a message. It’s been quite a little while since we saw him put the gloves on, as Garcia has not fought since May of last year. At Madison Square Garden in New York City, Garcia suffered a stunning loss to Rolando Romero. Now, he’s focused on putting that in the past and taking care of business vs. Barrios.
| Boxing odds |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garcia to win | -280 | -280 | -280 |
| Barrios to win | +200 | +200 | +200 |
| Last 12 rounds | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 12 rounds | -110 | -110 | -110 |
“I try to let all my decisions be led by God and I felt like this was the right decision to make and he’s a great fighter,” Garcia said of fighting Barrios. “He’s never been in a bad fight, he’s always coming to fight. Even in the championship rounds you see that he keeps firing back and finds a way to make sure the gap ain’t too far out. So he’s one of those guys that comes to fight and we’re going to have a great one on our hands.”
According to the best online sports betting sites, Garcia has been given an eye-opening -280 Vegas boxing odds to post a win in this one. On the other side of things, Barrios is the underdog with his +200 odds per the best boxing betting sites. This tells us that the Vegas oddsmakers think that Garcia is barely going to break a sweat in this one. We tend to agree, as we’re no question going with Garcia as our pick to win.
Looking at this matchup in terms of the total length, the Ryan Garcia vs. Mario Barrios fight likely won’t go the full 12 rounds. With the greatest of respect for Barrios, something tells us that Garcia is going to want to send a massive statement in this one and remind people why he’s one of the best in the sport. Because of that, Garcia is going to have extra motivation to end this one quicker than most people think.
“At the end of the day, that Rolly camp was just a hard one to get by,” Garcia said of trying to bounce back. “I was doing a lot of stupid (expletive), not treating my body like a temple before that — obviously had a year layoff — but it’s okay. It’s behind us, I positioned my body to be in top form. I feel in top form, top shape and that’s what he’s going to get. The best version of me.”
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As for the action back inside of the ring, the best boxing sites have given -110 Las Vegas odds for both this fight going the distance and it ending early. If we had to take a guess ourselves, we anticipate this fight ending in the eighth round, with Garcia winning by a TKO. It will be interesting to see if things go down that way or not for Garcia, but we just don’t think this one will hit the full 12 rounds and be left to a judge’s decision.
The Garcia vs. Barrios meeting isn’t the only one that people are excited about, as Richardson Hitchins is a massive favorite in the co-main event. In this one, Hitchins will be defending his title against Oscar Duarte, who is hoping to pull off an unreal upset in Las Vegas. That’s of course going to prove to be a tall mountain to climb, as Hitchins himself is going to want to send a message.
Hitchins and Duarte have impressive talents, as this is a lightweight matchup that people are also quite excited about. Despite these two not being heavyweights, the experienced fighters have head-turning strength and they’re going to be ready to showcase that to everyone both in the stands and watching at home. So, how will this one end up going down?
Per the oddsmakers, Hitchins holds -550 betting odds to post the win. There isn’t much hope for Duarte to have his hand raised by the end of the night, as he has been given +375 betting odds. From our chair, this should be a pretty easy night for Hitchins, as he’ll end things pretty dang early. That’s right, we’re not hesitating in going with Hitchins as our pick to win.
