Less than 30 seconds into round one, Garcia landed a sharp right hand to the forehead that dropped Barrios to the canvas. The champion beat the count, but the early knockdown shifted the entire fight. From that point forward, Garcia controlled distance with his jab, picked spots with quick combinations and forced Barrios to reset repeatedly.
Through the middle rounds, Garcia’s speed advantage was clear. He beat Barrios to the punch, circled out of danger and avoided extended exchanges. Barrios pressed forward but struggled to cut off the ring or land clean shots in volume. When he did connect, the punches lacked the snap needed to change momentum.
By the second half, the bout had settled into a predictable pattern. Garcia worked behind a steady jab and mixed in right hands and left hooks, while Barrios followed and absorbed. There were no further knockdowns, but Garcia’s cleaner punching and control built a wide lead on the scorecards. One right hand in the later rounds snapped Barrios’ head back and appeared to damage his nose, though he remained upright.
Barrios fought through all 12 rounds and tried to rally late, but he never found a sustained stretch of success. The crowd grew restless as the action slowed and the outcome became obvious.
The judges scored the fight 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109, all for Garcia. He improves to 25-2 with 20 knockouts and leaves Las Vegas as the new WBC welterweight champion. Barrios drops to 29-3-2 and loses his title in a performance where he was outsped and outworked from the opening bell.
Garcia has the belt, but the fight itself offered little suspense after the first minute.
