Mario Barrios has breathed life into his career.
The welterweight contender, who was going through consecutive losses, knocked out Jovanie Santiago and then stopped him in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round match on Rey Vargas-O’Shaquie Foster on Saturday in San Antonio.
The official stop time is 1:42.
The fight went on for several rounds. After that, Barrios, fighting in his homeland, ramped up his ferocity and seemed to unleash more and more punitive blows on the progressive boxer.
In the 8th round, Santiago (14-3-1, 10 KOs) got hit but still didn’t hit the target. Finally, about a minute into the round, the Puerto Rican came down from left to torso.
Santiago returned to his fight only to absorb stronger, more precise hits from Barrios that caused his coach to stop the fight.
“It feels great,” Barrios said. “It took me a while to get that groove, to get that rhythm. I feel great.”
Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs) was stopped by Gervonta Davis in 11 rounds in 2021 at the 140-pound division. He then rose to 147th to face former owner Keith Thurman and was eliminated a year ago.
