“When have we seen Ryan in the ring with someone his height? So, I think we’re looking at a boxing match,” said trainer Greg Hackett to MillCity Boxing about the Ryan Garcia vs. Mario Barrios fight on February 21, 2026.
Barrios’ Size Advantage
The 6’0″ Barrios will have a significant height advantage over the 5’8 1/2″ Ryan in this fight. If he chooses to use his height and reach against Garcia to keep the action on the outside, its going to be a long night for him.
“Could he overwhelm Barrios? Yeah, but where is he mentally? Ryan Garcia has been spending time with YouTubers and streamers. He ain’t really been training. So, what type of Ryan are we getting?”
Training Outside the Gym
Ryan has been training in his mansion in Los Angeles, hitting mitts with one of his coaches. He hasn’t been training at the gym. His approach is the stay-at-home style, working out in beautiful surroundings. The 27-year-old Ryan does have the left hook smash that could KO Barrios if he lands it on the button, but it still doesn’t look good for him due to his odd training regimen.
“Are we getting the frontrunner Ryan, who goes in there and tries his best for two or three rounds, then bull s*** for the rest of the fight, or are we getting a focused Ryan that is going in there trying to do damage? I think it’s a 50-50 fight. Ryan has got to show more than the left hook,” said Hackett.
Lessons From Romero
What Greg is referring to is Ryan’s fight against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero earlier this year on May 2, 2025. He fought aggressively for the first two rounds, but went into defensive mode after being dropped by Rolly.
Garcia looked like all the fight had been taken out of him, and fought in a safety-first manner for the final ten rounds. There was no self-confidence or bravery on his part.
Whatever courage Kingry had going into that fight, it abandoned him after Romero knocked him down in the second round. The thing is, Rolly didn’t look overly impressive. He was loading up on single shots, making sound effects each time he’d throw. Garcia appeared scared.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time that Ryan surrendered the ship after being dropped. We saw the same behavior from him in his clash against Gervonta Davis in April 2023. After Ryan was knocked down in round two, he was basically done for the night.
From that point on, Garcia just hung around, letting Tank have his way until he quit in the seventh after being hit to the body. As the saying goes, ‘Once a quitter, always a quitter.’ If Barrios brings the same form that he showed in his fight against Cuba-born Yordenis Ugas in September 2023, Ryan’s chances of winning are slim.
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