Ryan Garcia will attempt to win his first major world title when he challenges WBC welterweight titleholder Mario Barrios on Feb. 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The fight will headline “The Ring: High Stakes” on DAZN, The Ring announced on Monday.
Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) is one of the sport’s biggest attractions but has fallen on tough times both in and out of the ring over the past two years. His stunning majority decision win over Devin Haney in 2024 was overturned to a no contest when Garcia tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine the day before the fight in a VADA drug test. He was expelled from the WBC by president Mauricio Sulaiman in July 2024 after using racial slurs on social media.
Garcia returned to action as the headliner of the Times Square boxing card against Rolly Romero but was knocked down and dropped a unanimous decision.
Garcia’s ban from the WBC was lifted in November 2025, and the two sides went to work to secure the fight.
Although he is winless since a 2023 knockout of Oscar Duarte, has yet to win a fight at welterweight and 1-2 with one no contest since 2022, Garcia will get the opportunity to dethrone the current champion for his next fight.
“I will be World Champion on February 21st,” Garcia said in a statement.
Fighting out of San Antonio, Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) won the vacant WBC interim title in 2023 when he defeated Yordenis Ugas and was elevated to full world champion in May 2024 after Terence Crawford moved up to junior middleweight to defeat Israil Madrimov. However, since becoming recognized as WBC champion, Barrios has gone 0-0-2 in his next two fights. He had a split draw with Abel Ramos in November 2024 on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and escaped with a controversial majority draw last July against Manny Pacquiao. His two losses were against world champions Keith Thurman and Gervonta Davis.
“San Antonio built me, and every sacrifice I’ve made comes with me into that ring,” Barrios said in a statement. “This is my division, my time, and I’m ready to show the world why the WBC title stays right here.”
