Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia is an American professional boxer who rose from regional junior titles to become a major figure in multiple weight divisions. An orthodox fighter from Victorville and based in Los Angeles, Garcia has compiled a 26–2–0–1 record with 21 stoppage wins across lightweight, super-lightweight and welterweight competition. He captured the WBC world welterweight title on Feb. 21, 2026, and successfully defended it in September 2026. Garcia turned professional in 2016 and established an early reputation for power and finishing ability. In his first year he ran off a string of early stoppages, and in 2017 he began collecting regional silver and junior titles, including the vacant WBC‑NABF junior super‑featherweight crown in September 2017 and subsequent defenses of WBC‑NABF junior honours later that year. He moved into higher-profile regional title fights in 2018, claiming vacant WBC‑NABF and WBO‑NABO super‑featherweight belts with a unanimous decision over Jayson Vélez. Garcia continued his ascent at lightweight, winning multiple secondary and regional titles. In 2019 he took the WBO–NABO and a vacant WBC Silver lightweight title by stopping Romero Duno, then added a first-round KO of Francisco Fonseca in 2020 to retain WBC Silver honours. On Jan. 2, 2021, Garcia captured the vacant WBC interim lightweight title with a seventh-round body-shot TKO of former world champion Luke Campbell. After working at lightweight, Garcia campaigned at super-lightweight and scored a string of notable results, including a sixth-round stoppage of Javier Fortuna in 2022 and a knockout victory over Oscar Duarte in December 2023 to claim the vacant WBA Gold super-lightweight title. That run also included a disputed April 2024 bout against WBC super-lightweight champion Devin Haney: the on‑night majority-decision result was later formally changed to a No Contest by the New York State Athletic Commission as part of a June 20, 2024 settlement after a positive test for ostarine. Garcia endured setbacks as well. He suffered a seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in April 2023 at a catchweight agreement and lost a reported unanimous decision to Rolando Romero on May 2, 2025 in a fight for the vacant WBA (Regular) welterweight title. In February 2026 Garcia returned to the top of the division by winning the WBC world welterweight title via unanimous decision over Mario Barrios at the T-Mobile Arena. Research notes a provenance gap in publicly available WBC documentation: the WBC had announced Garcia's expulsion in July 2024 and later materials sanction the Feb. 21, 2026 Barrios fight, but a single dated WBC press release explicitly documenting a reinstatement was not located. Garcia reinforced his status as WBC world champion with a second-round TKO defense against Conor Benn on Sept. 12, 2026. As of his most recent fights, Garcia stands as an active WBC world welterweight champion with a career defined by early power, multiple regional and secondary titles, high-profile championship contests and a record that mixes emphatic stoppages with competitive losses at the highest level.