Ramos was a welterweight for seven years by the time he battled Barrios for the WBC belt in November 2024, yet even he was taken aback by his size once they entered the ring. That will be a significant hindrance, according to Ramos, for the shorter Garcia, who hasn’t experienced any success as a full-fledged welterweight.

“That’s a big advantage [for Barrios],” Ramos told The Ring. “Barrios is big, man. He’s a big welterweight. When I used to look at tapes when I was gonna fight him, he didn’t look that big. But in person, he towered over me. On fight night, he puts on weight, too. He’s more natural at that weight.”

Ramos, who fought Barrios to a split draw, also gathers Garcia is overconfident in advance of their main event on “The Ring: High Stakes” card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Barrios stands 6 feet, approximately three inches taller than the fast-handed, strong Garcia, and has competed six times at the welterweight limit.

“Barrios is being underestimated,” Ramos said. “He’s tall, he’s lanky, he’s big, he puts on a lotta weight on fight night. So, that’s something Ryan is overlooking.”

DraftKings lists Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs), of Victorville, California, as more than 2-1 favorite to beat Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs). San Antonio’s Barrios has taken offense to the perception that he is the easiest mark among boxing’s four welterweight titleholders, something Ramos disputed.

“It’s looking like a 50-50 fight to me,” Ramos said. “I’m gonna lean towards Barrios a little bit because of the type of fighters he fought. And basing it on their last performances as well, I think Barrios did a little better than Ryan did against Rolly [Romero]. I’m leaning towards Mario a little bit more, and hopefully I can get the winner of that match.”

Garcia was an 11-1 favorite over Romero (17-2, 13 KOs), who knocked him down in the second round and won by unanimous decision in the main event of The Ring’s card May 2 in New York.

Garcia, 27, will fight for the first time since Romero upset him. Barrios, 30, has settled for draws in his past two fights, most recently with Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs), who was 46 when they met July 19 at in Las Vegas.

Ramos and Barrios each scored knockdowns during their thoroughly entertaining bout on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson undercard in Arlington, Texas. Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs), of Casa Grande, Arizona, is set to end a 15-month layoff February 28, when he is scheduled to face Philadelphia’s Tahmir Smalls (16-0, 11 KOs) on the Emanuel Navarrete-Eduardo Nunez undercard at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

DAZN will stream the Navarrete-Nunez card to all subscribers.

The streaming service will also distribute “The Ring: High Stakes” to non-subscribers on pay-per-view for $69.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom. The card headlined by Barrios-Garcia is included in DAZN’s Ultimate monthly plan for subscribers ($44.99; £24.99).