Ryan Garcia remains drug-free and on course to make weight for his next title fight.
The latter was confirmed by the WBC, whose welterweight title will be at stake when Garcia, 24-2 (20 KOs), challenges reigning belt holder Mario Barrios, 29-2-2 (18 KOs), later this month. Both boxers complied with the sanctioning body’s requirement to submit to a 14-day weight check and were within the acceptable limit.
Barrios was 153.0lbs, while Garcia weighed 154.2lbs. Participants fighting in a WBC-sanctioned fight are required to weigh no more than 5 per cent above the contracted limit 14 days out from fight night. In this case, Barrios and Garcia were required to weigh no heavier than 155lbs (rounded up from 154.35lbs).
WBC events carry four official weight checks – 30-day (10 per cent cap), 14-day (5 per cent), 7-day (3 per cent) and, of course, the official pre-fight weigh-in.
Their scheduled 12-round contest will top a February 21 DAZN pay-per-view event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Both boxers are also subject to random drug testing as contracted through VADA.
San Antonio’s Barrios will attempt the third defense of his title since he was upgraded to full titleholder in mid-2024. Interestingly, each of his previous two outings ended in a draw. He fought to a stalemate with Abel Ramos on the November 2024 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson undercard and drew again with legendary former eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao last July 19 in Vegas.
Making weight and being clean is nothing new for Barrios, who has regularly tested through VADA for most of his career.
Neither proved to be accurate for Garcia ahead of his lone other bout with a full version of a major title at stake.
The highly popular Garcia infamously blew weight – badly – ahead of his April 2024 clash with then-WBC 140lbs titlist Devin Haney at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia was required to pay a portion of his purse to Haney for the infraction, and to allow the fight to move forward.
Their DAZN PPV main event originally ended with Garcia claiming a majority decision win. However, the result was subsequently negated and ruled a no-contest after he produced multiple positive drug tests showing accelerated levels of ostarine.
The infraction resulted in a one-year suspension, which ended just in time for Garcia to fall upward. He was permitted to challenge for a secondary version of the WBA 147lbs title but dropped a lopsided decision to Rolando “Rolly” Romero last May 2 in New York City’s famed Times Square region.
At the time, Garcia was banned by the WBC for his racist and erratic behavior. The sanctioning body has since lifted its punishment, just in time to approve a request for approval of this proposed title fight late last year.
The fight was only announced in January. However, both parties agreed well before then – to the point that they were able to move forward with extensive pre-fight random drug testing.
