Hall of Famer Tim Bradley has predicted the outcome of Ryan Garcia‘s world title challenge against Mario Barrios.
It has been revealed that WBC welterweight champion Barrios is set to make the third defence of his crown against ‘King Ry’ at an undisclosed venue in the USA on Saturday February 21.
Garcia posted a video of himself signing the contract across his social media platforms on Thursday morning, putting an end to the speculation that he would be facing Britain’s Conor Benn instead.
Barrios made the second defence of his WBC title back in July when he fought to a majority draw against eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In an interview with Fight Hype, two-weight world champion Bradley claimed that whilst he believes Barrios vs. Garcia is an ‘interesting fight’, he admits that he is backing the reigning champion to get the job done.
“He [Garcia] is going to need a better performance [than last time out], because if he brings that type of performance into the ring with Barrios, Barrios is going to eat him up. It is going to be easy work. I notice one thing about Garcia; he doesn’t like power.
“Does Barrios have enough power in his shots to keep Garcia honest? That is what I worry about and, if Garcia land that left hook, can Barrios take it? Because that seems to be an issue for Barrios, upstairs and downstairs, the left-hook. It’s an interesting fight; it’s not a foregone conclusion that Garcia is going to just walk through a guy like Barrios.
“Barrios has got a lot of experience, he wants to hold on to that strap, he has a lot of confidence and ability, coming off that draw with Manny Pacquiao. Right now, I favour Barrios in this fight. I know a lot of people favour Garcia, but I favour Barrios, he has got a good jab, good fundamentals, good boxing IQ. I think that he is the more complete fighter.”
Barrios will have his sights firmly set on putting on an impressive performance against his countryman on February 21, especially considering his last two outings have ended in close-fought draws.
