Ryan Garcia Promises “Best Version” Ahead of Barrios Title Fight

With Ryan Garcia set to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title on February 21, both fighters are using the same phrase to describe what’s coming, but they’re using it for very different reasons.

Both men talk about preparing for the “best version” of Ryan Garcia. The difference is who that language protects.

For Barrios, it’s professional insulation. The WBC welterweight titleholder says he’s preparing for the strongest, sharpest version of Ryan he’s seen. That’s standard champion talk. You don’t downgrade a challenger publicly, and you don’t leave room for post fight explanations. Whatever shows up in the ring is the version Barrios says he trained for.

Garcia Builds The Fight Around Himself

Garcia’s use of the phrase does something else entirely. When Ryan explains why this fight came together, he talks almost entirely about his own preparation and what he believes has changed since the Romero fight.

The Romero fight becomes a reference point for what went wrong away from the ring. The layoff, the discipline, the body. All of it is presented as settled now, replaced by a version of himself that viewers are asked to accept in advance.

“I feel in top form, top shape, and that’s what he’s going to get — the best version of me,” Ryan said to DAZN.

That approach pulls attention away from the opponent and toward a promise about what’s coming. The performance is described in advance rather than tied to what has already been shown.

The contrast is subtle but important, because one fighter is preparing for what is already in front of him, while the other is fexplaining the fight around a version of himself he believes is coming. Barrios enters the night with a belt to defend, not a narrative to prove.

Garcia has to deliver the version he keeps talking about — and if he doesn’t, the phrase he keeps leaning on stops being protection and starts becoming the standard he’s judged against.