“When have we seen Ryan in the ring with someone his height? So, I think we’re looking at a boxing match,” trainer Greg Hackett said. 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, it’s going to be a long night for him.
“Can he overwhelm Barrios? Yes, but where is he mentally? Ryan Garcia spent time with YouTubers and streamers. He didn’t really train. So what type of Ryan are we getting?”
Training outside the gym
Ryan worked out in his Los Angeles mansion and hit gloves with one of his trainers. He hasn’t worked out at the gym yet. His approach is the stay-at-home style, exercising in beautiful surroundings. The 27-year-old Ryan does have the left hook that can hurt Barrios if he lands it on the button, but it still doesn’t look good for him due to his strange training regimen.
“Do we get the lead Ryan, who goes in there and tries his best for two or three rounds, then bull s*** for the rest of the fight, or do we get a focused Ryan who goes in there and tries to do damage? I think it’s a 50-50 fight. Ryan has to show more than the left corner,” Hackett said.
Lessons from Romero
What Greg is referring to is Ryan’s fight against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero earlier this year on May 2nd, 2025. He fought aggressively for the first two rounds but went into defensive mode after being dropped by Rolly.
Garcia seemed to have all the fight taken out of him, fighting in a safety-first manner for the last ten rounds. There was no confidence or bravery on his part.
Whatever courage Kingry had going into that fight left him after Romero knocked him down in the second round. The thing is, Rolly didn’t look too impressive. He was loading on single shots and making sound effects every time he threw. Garcia looked scared.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time Ryan had surrendered the ship after being dropped. We saw the same behavior from him in his matchup 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 and let Tank go 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 he showed in his fight against the Cuban-born Yordenis Ugas in September 2023, Ryan’s chance of winning is slim.
