Ryan Garcia Dominates Mario Barrios to Win WBC Welterweight Title: High Stakes Results

Ryan Garcia was victorious Saturday night as he dominated and defeated Mario Barrios by unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Garcia came out in the first round and made a statement, dropping Barrios in the first 30 seconds with a right to the temple. Barrios survived the round, but continued to be on the receiving end of Garcia’s lightning fast jab and surprising right hands. Garcia proceeded with a power boxing clinic- lightning fast left jabs and solid rights following up. Barrios was buckled early in the fifth, but remained on his feet.

Garcia continued to put on a master class for the remainder of the fight- delivering a consistently effective offense, remaining defensively responsible and laser focused. Garcia coasted to the greatest victory of his career with scores of 119-108, 120-107, 118-109. He improves to 25-3-2, 20 KOs. Barrios falls to 29-3-2, 18 KOs.

Garcia expressed the desire for his next fight to be against the new WBO Jr. Welterweight champion, Shakur Stevenson, This raises an interesting scenario. Stevenson was recently stripped of his WBC lightweight title for not complying with a WBC rule regarding the paying of 50% of a normal sanctioning fee when a WBC champ fights a “WBC special event.” Moving up in weight to fight for the title of a different organization, as he did against WBO champ Teofimo Lopez, counted as such a special event.

Given the fallout, would the WBC sanction such a fight? Shakur stated afterwards, that two big stars such as him and Garcia don’t need to have a title on the line and he would require the fight to be in the middle, such as 144 lb. Lots of interesting possibilities here.

Gary Antuanne Russell Grinds Out Decision Against Andy Hiraoka

WBA Jr. Welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell made the first defense of his title against #1 ranked Andy Hiraoka. It was a highly tactical, fast paced all-southpaw battle, with Hiraoka fighting off the back foot and relying on his jab, while Russell balanced body work with head shots. Hiraoka landed two excellent body shots in the sixth round, his first such attempted punches of the fight, as he moved forward also in that round, as opposed to back pedalling.

Round seven saw Hiraoka out on a body punching clinic. The throne was fought at a decidedly pedestrian pace as both men slowed down for a well deserved breather. The ninth was very close as Russell was throwing shoe-shine body shots while Hiraoka was throwing vicious body shots at every opportunity.

Russell got a brief rest early in the tenth after he suffered a hard low blow and referee Allen Huggins give him a couple moments to recover. After a hard warning, the action resumed but with 37 seconds left, Hiraoka landed a severe low blow that actually went between and through Russell’s legs. The ref deducted a point from Hiraoka, which led crucial and what appeared at this point to be an extremely close fight.

In what looked to be a good 11th round for Russell, he finished the round getting rocked badly by a three-punch combination from Hiraoka, which saw Russell follow Hiraoka to his corner before the referee turned him around and redirected him back to his own. The twelfth was give and take with the last several seconds ending in a toe-toe exchange to the bell leaving fans on their feet. Both men bore the marks of battle on their faces.

The Georgia’s final scores were as follows: 117-110, 116-111 twice, for Russell, who is successful in the first offense of his WBA title. He improves to 19-1, 17 KOs. Hiraoka loses for the first time at 24-1, 19 KOs.

Martin and Albright Battle to Draw

Frank “The Ghost” Martin returned after his sensational, knockout-of-the-year candidate fight over Rances Barthelemy, to face Nahir Albright over ten rounds. This was a highly skilled, cleanly fought contest. Martin had the edge over the first half of the fight, after which Albright began to have some success, working Martin’s body. The seventh was the round of the fight, both men landing clean, hard shots. Albright came out of the ninth with a bad cut on his right eye. Albright rocked Martin badly In the last round, but kept losing his own mouthpiece, which referee? Robert Hoyle replaced both times, giving Martin a chance to regain his senses. That may have cost Albright the victory as all three judges tabbed it 95-95, for a unanimous draw! Martin goes to 19-1-1, 13 KOs. Albright goes to 17-2-1, 7 KOs.

Bek Bully's Agbeko

WBA Continental Americas super middleweight title, champion Bektemir “Bek The Bully” Melikuziev battled Ghanian Sena Agbeko. Melikuziev had the upper hand throughout the fight. His Southpaw stance was both an asset and a curse. Agbeko couldn’t cope with Bek’s stance, but the right/lefty situation resulted in several clashes of the heads and bad cuts on both eyebrows of Melikuziev. It appeared that Agbeko would weather everything that Melikuziev would land when suddenly a temple shot in the seventh had Agbeko swaying in the breeze. Melikuziev pounced and brutally dropped Agbeko. After a generous count from referee Chris Flores, Agbeko was allowed to continue. Melikuziev landed a hard left and Flores waved it off with :02 left in the seventh. Melikuziev retains his title and moves to 17-1, 11 KOs. Agbeko slides to 29-5, 23 KOs

Jones Opens PPV With KO of Arias

Middleweight prospect Amari Jones bettered Luis Arias from pillar to post for four rounds before the corner of Arias stopped it during the rest. After the fourth round. Jones dropped Arias in the second run with a beautiful counter left, then again in the fourth round, with Arias barely lasting the round. Round. Fortunately, his his corner did the right thing. Jones improves to 16-0, 14 KOs. Arias falls to 22-7-1, 7 KOS.

Saudi super featherweight Mohammed Alakel scored a dominant body shot knockout of David Calabro, via two knockdowns in the second round. Referee Chris a Flores stopping it after the count of five, with Calabro shaking his head that he wasn’t going to get up. The time was 2:22 of the second. Alakel moves to 8-0, 2 KOs. Calabro los s his second in a row, falling to 5-2, 1 KO.

2024 US Olympian heavyweight Joshua Edwards went the distance for the first time as a pro against tough Canadian Brandon Colantonio. The “Rocket” landed a big shot in the first round but couldn’t track down his foe for the remainder of the fight. Colantonio albd d a shot or two of his own to keep Edwards honest. Scores were 60-54 across the board, all for Edwards now 6-0, KOs. Colantonio goes to 7-2, 1 KO.