Garcia will find out if his proclamations will be true when Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs) challenges the IBF junior welterweight champion Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) as the co-main event for "The Ring: High Stakes" show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN PPV.

“Everyone knows Duarte is going to bring pressure and an ugly and dirty-looking style, cutting off the ring and throwing a lot of punches,” Garcia told The Ring. “Hitchins is going to have a long night, and I do see Duarte catching him and finishing Hitchins in the late rounds. The main thing is for Oscar to be in great shape.

“It's different when you're fighting a tough, strong Mexican who keeps coming and doesn't hold back for 12 rounds. You might have good success for the first half, but eventually you get broken down. It's the way these kinds of stylistic fights unfold. We've seen the upsets, when a very talented boxer faces the Mexican style.”

Garcia believes the tape he’s seen on Hitchins against the hard-charging Gustavo Lemos – a fight many believe Hitchins lost – and Liam Paro, where Hitchins lost a handful of early rounds before rallying for a split decision to become the champion, is a sign of good things to come for Duarte.

“We're going to start early, but we don't know how it will unfold,” said Garcia. “We saw Hitchins have trouble with Lemos, an Argentinian brawler who kept coming. I'm sure those fights taught Hitchins a lot and made him better. I think we are going to have a better version of Hitchins.

“Hitchins is a very talented fighter and probably the best fighter at 140 pounds, if we don't count Shakur Stevenson. Shakur just moved up, so we're going to have to wait and see what he does, because he's also talking about moving up or down. Hitchins has been at 140 for a while.”

Hitchins is The Ring’s No. 2-rated fighter at 140 pounds, Stevenson is The Ring and WBO champion after beating Teofimo Lopez Jr. last month. The other champion in the division is WBC beltholder Dalton Smith, who is rated No. 1 by The Ring.

If Garcia leads Duarte to an upset win, it will mark the 18th champion the coach has trained. Garcia’s 17th champion is Raymond Muratalla, who defended his title as a betting underdog against Andy Cruz last month.

Duarte is a betting underdog as well against Hitchins at +380, but Garcia believes they can pull off the shocker, similar to how Mexican slugger Jose Armando Resendiz did against crafty boxer and former super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant last year for the “Upset of the Year.”

Duarte will be heading into his fifth fight with Garcia, who was The Ring’s 2024 Trainer of the Year and a finalist for the award in 2025 as well. Duarte is undefeated in four fights with Garcia ever since joining forces with the renowned coach in Southern California following his eighth-round knockout defeat to Ryan Garcia in December 2023.

By coincidence, Duarte, a 30-year-old from Chihuahua, Mexico, will be providing chief support to Garcia’s own title challenge against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

“Duarte is feeding off Muratalla’s win,” said Garcia. “He has enthusiasm, confidence and belief, 100 percent, after seeing his teammate defy the odds.”

In addition to Muratalla, Duarte also soaks up game by training alongside the likes of pound-for-pound star Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and junior middleweight knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. and many others at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Moreno Valley.

And now, there is a newfound X-factor in Duarte’s corner by way of Garcia’s younger brother and former four-division champion, Mikey Garcia.

“Another thing that is helping Oscar a lot is that Mikey is being more hands on with him in the gym this time around,” said Garcia. “Mikey also knows this is not an easy fight, and he's pushing and motivating Duarte during the sparring sessions. It's a big plus. We're a team, and we team up to get the win.”

Duarte is coming into the clash off a majority decision win against Kenneth Sims Jr. in August. Sims is another crafty fighter with light pop like Hitchins and somewhat served as a solid appetizer for Duarte as he prepares for his first world title challenge.

“We've seen some similarities with Sims, but Hitchins is above Sims' level and we have to push Oscar harder in this camp to go out there and pull out the win,” said Garcia. “We are not underestimating Hitchins. He's skilled with a stabbing jab and fights beautifully.”

Garcia said he was close to canceling the Sims fight because Duarte got into a motorcycle accident three weeks before the bout and couldn't spar for a week.

If the dangerous Duarte is recklessly successful in the ring, his offensive ride could ultimately lead Hitchins to crash.

“Oscar has been very disciplined and dedicated this time around,” said Garcia. “He's not getting wild and riding motorcycles on the weekends. We should see a much better version of Duarte against Hitchins."