\tLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 21: Ryan Garcia poses for a photo after his unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios duing the WBC Welterweight Title Fight at T-Mobile Arena on February 21, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cris Esqueda\/Golden Boy\/Getty Images) | Getty Images\t<\/p>\n
Ryan Garcia<\/strong> achieved a huge milestone in his boxing career last night (Sat., Feb, 21, 2026) by defeating Mario Barrios<\/strong> via a lopsided unanimous decision to claim the WBC Welterweight championship (see it again here). <\/p>\n Shortly after his big win, Garcia called for a fight against current WBO and The Ring Junior Welterweight, Shakur Stevenson<\/strong>, who is fresh off a big win over Teofimo Lopez <\/strong>earlier this year (see it again here<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cYou know who I want,\u201d Garcia said to Ring Magazine<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s right there. Shakur Stevenson, let\u2019s go. Let\u2019s run that shit. I want to be a great champion, and I\u2019m not scared of shit,\u201d <\/em>he said. <\/em>\u201cI fought Devin Haney, I\u2019ll fight Shakur Stevenson\u2026 let\u2019s fucking go!\u201d<\/p>\n During the DAZN broadcast, Stevenson was asked about moving up to 147 pounds to fight the newly-crowned champion. And while he was open to the idea, he does have a couple of stipulations in place before the fight actually gets made including weight and drug testing. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re gonna meet in the middle,\u201d Stevenson said<\/a>. \u201cTwo big stars; big fight; we don\u2019t need a belt for the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia moved up from 140 pounds to face Barrios at the 147-pound weight class. As for Stevenson, he moved up from 134 to 14- to face Lopez, so once can see how it wouldn\u2019t take too much of a compromise for either man to find common ground. <\/p>\n Another, perhaps more important, stipulation that Stevenson has before a fight between the two goes down is they involvement of VADA when it comes to drug\u2014testing. <\/p>\n \u201cWas VADA involved in this fight? Because I seen against Rolly and he didn\u2019t look like that. If he\u2019s fighting me next, I\u2019m all for the challenge but VADA will be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s an obvious dig at Garcia\u2019s fumbled drug test<\/a> for his fight against Devin Haney<\/strong>, which ultimately resulted in officials overturning the bout to a No Contest. In his comeback fight<\/a> he lost to Rolly Romero<\/strong> before returning to the win column against Barrios. <\/p>\n For the record, VADA did conduct the drug-testing program for the Garica vs. Barrios title fight. <\/p>\n Garcia and Stevenson did compete against one another in the amateurs back in 2013 which ultimately saw Stevenson win the fight on the judges scorecards in what were the semi-finals of the 2013 U.S. Junior National Selection Tournament.<\/p>\n Anyone think it would go any different at the professional level? <\/p>\n For the latest boxing-related news and notes click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n