Andreas HaleFeb 22, 2026, 01:05 AM ETCloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on XMultiple Authors
Ryan Garcia captured his first major world title by winning the WBC welterweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Garcia dropped Barrios in Round 1 with an overhand right and dominated Barrios the rest of the fight to win by scorecards of 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109.
Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs) was making the fourth defense of his belt. Barrios won the WBC interim title with a victory over Yordenis Ugas in 2023, defended it against Fabian Maidana in May 2024 and was elevated to full champion when Terence Crawford was named champion in recess by the WBC. Barrios has since fought to consecutive draws in title defenses against Abel Ramos in November 2024 and Manny Pacquiao last July.
Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) previously claimed the WBC interim lightweight title in 2021 with a stoppage of Luke Campbell. He appeared to earn the biggest win of his career in April 2024 when he defeated Devin Haney by majority decision — a bout in which Garcia failed to make weight and was ineligible to win the WBC junior welterweight belt — but he tested positive for a banned substance and the result was overturned to a no-contest. Garcia then fell short in a bid for the WBA “regular” welterweight title, losing a decision to Rolando “Rolly” Romero last May.
Andreas HaleFeb 22, 2026, 01:05 AM ETCloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on XMultiple Authors
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on X
Relive all the action from Las Vegas, including undercard results and round-by-round analysis.