A coach of Filipino great Manny Pacquiao has predicted the upcoming clash between Mario Barrios and Ryan Garcia.
It has been reported in the last few weeks that Barrios is set to make the next defence of his WBC world welterweight title against Garcia in the early stages of 2026.
‘El Azteca’ defended his WBC crown for the second time on July 19 when he fought to a majority decision draw against Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, although it has been suggested that the Filipino icon had done enough to dethrone Barrios.
As for Garcia, the 27-year-old from California suffered the second defeat of his career to reigning WBA welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero at Times Square in New York in May in what was an underwhelming performance by ‘King Ryan’.
Speaking to ESNEWS, Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune backed Barrios to get the job done over Garcia, as he claims the WBC welterweight king has ‘more heart’ than his countryman.
“I think Barrios beats Garcia. He’s [Barrios] got more heart and he’s a bigger guy, a much bigger guy.”
Barrios will be looking to make up for what has been a frustrating couple of years for the 30-year-old after his last two world title defences Pacquiao and Abel Ramos ended in draws.
There had been rumours circulating about a potential rematch between Barrios and Pacquiao taking place next, but these plans were scrapped after the Filipino great’s manager Sean Gibbons confirmed that they would be going down a different route.
