Manny Pacquiao sends warning to Ryan Garcia before facing Mario Barrios as fight confirmed

Manny Pacquiao warned Ryan Garcia against the trap of complacency amid its preparations for a confrontation with Mario Barrios.

It has now been confirmed that the pair will meet on a card on February 21.with Barrios defending his WBC welterweight world title.

The 30-year-old was elevated from interim champion to full WBC champion in 2024, but has collected just two draws since being upgraded by the sanctioning body.

The first saw him engage in a fiery encounter with Abel Ramos, before defending his title against Pacquiao, 46, in July 2025.

At the time, many expected Barrios to be far too fresh for the Filipino, who ended a four-year hiatus from professional boxing and almost did enough to emerge victorious.

Garcia, meanwhile, has not fought since his shock defeat against Rolando Romero in May, which saw him suffer a second-round upset before losing unanimously in the final stretch.

Before that, the American’s majority decision victory against Devin Haney, which occurred in April 2024, was then overturned without contest due to Garcia testing positive for ostarine, a banned substance.

It must therefore be said that the 27-year-old is hardly coming off a series of brilliant results, his last official victory having come against Oscar Duarte in 2023.

Maybe that’s why Pacquiao said CombatHype that Garcia, regardless of his own self-confidence, must ultimately leave no stone unturned during his training camp for Barrios.

“It’s a good fight. Ryan needs to train hard.”

Garcia would train under the tutelage of his father, Henry, for this particular camp, while Joe Goossen, Garcia’s former trainer, joined forces with WBC champion Barrios.