Ryan Garcia has set his sights on a potential opportunity overseas, but must first take care of business against WBC world champion Mario Barrios.
The pair will square off at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on February 21, with Barrios making the third defence of his green and gold strap at 147lbs.
Still searching for his first win as WBC champion, the 30-year-old comes off back-to-back draws against Abel Ramos and a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao.
But while Barrios has hardly cemented himself as a world-beater at welterweight, the same could be said for Garcia’s position as a genuine title contender.
The 27-year-old produced a lacklustre performance against Rolando Romero in May, suffering a second-round knockdown before losing unanimously on points.
This was Garcia’s first outing since his majority decision victory over Devin Haney in April 2024, which was later overturned to a no-contest due to ‘King Ry’ testing positive for banned substance ostarine.
But despite his year-long drugs ban, and indeed an unadventurous display against Romero, the American has nonetheless secured a world title opportunity next month.
The WBC mandatory challenger at 147lbs, meanwhile, is Conor Benn, and it seems that Garcia has already identified Benn as an appealing opponent for later this year, insisting that he would be open to entering their potential contest on away soil.
Speaking with Fight Hub TV in a media scrum, Garcia expressed his interest in travelling to the UK after his showdown with Barrios.
“That’s definitely an opportunity I would love to explore. Conor Benn’s got a pretty good fanbase in the UK – I would love to go international with it.
“We’re focused on what we’re focused on, but I would love that [fight].”
Despite exacting his revenge over Chris Eubank Jr in November, Benn has not fought at welterweight since his fourth-round finish against Chris Algieri in 2021. Regardless, he finds himself in the number one spot and will have a close eye on the action between Barrios and Garcia next month.
