After weeks of rumors about a potential fight between WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) and Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) on February 21, Barrios issued a public statement addressing the speculation.
He was at the Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach PPV in San Antonio, TX, and immediately after the first fight, he was interviewed by Brian Custer while Joe Goossen sat beside him. Custer didn’t waste any time asking about the Garcia fight following an Instagram video from November 20 where Garcia appeared to be “signing” the contract.
Barrios told Custer, “Everything is still getting finalized. Everything is still in the works. This fight just makes sense right now. Given who Ryan Garcia is and what he brings to the sport regardless of everything else he’s got going on, he’s still an explosive fighter, dangerous fighter and I think this fight has all of the intangibles to be a very exciting fight.”
This is great news for the fans that have been waiting for some sort of acknowledgment from Barrios after Garcia has been on a strong campaign online.
Mario Barrios Switches Trainers And Ryan Garcia Reacts On IG Stories
After discussing the Garcia fight, Custer asked Barrios about his new trainer, who happens to be the person sitting next to him: Joe Goossen. This change of trainers comes after Barrios spent his last three fights with Bob Santos.
Barrios feels like this is the right move to make and said “It just makes sense for where I’m at in my career. Me and Joe are familiar with each other and he commentated on a lot of my early fights. I know what he teaches and what he brings as a coach and a trainer. In these next couple of years, I want to do as much as I can in this division and in this sport. This move with Joe is going to bring everything together.”
While fans had mixed reactions online about this change of trainers, Barrios potential opponent on February 21 posted a video on Instagram reacting to the news as he was once trained by Goossen for the biggest fight of his career which was against Gervonta Davis.
“I’m about to cook Joe and Mario,” said Garcia while watching the interview on a TV. “Joe about to get cooked. It’s over. Y’all about to get cooked.”
If the matchup wasn’t already interesting, news of Garcia’s former trainer now working with Barrios is a promising addition to the story once the promotion is officially announced.
FightsATW will continue to monitor this story for updates on fight announcements and venue information.
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