Arnold Barboza is the first to admit that his performance on Saturday night wasn’t what he was hoping for.
The 32-year Southern California native labored to a split decision victory over Sean McComb, 18-1, in the co-feature bout underneath the Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia DAZN pay-per-view main event. The final scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 92-98 in favor of McComb.
However, Barboza – now 30-0 – has zero doubts that the right man was credited with the victory.
The 32-year-old has unsuccessfully challenged the top players in the super lightweight over the past few years. He has always been seen as high risk and low reward but is hopeful that this performance will encourage the division’s elite to face him.
“Yes, it was definitely a close fight and I give Sean McComb credit for the fight but hopefully this does open up opportunities for me. I will come back stronger,” Barboza told BoxingScene.
At the top of Barboza’s wish list is Garcia, who shocked most of the boxing world with his dominant victory over Haney in the main event. Garcia entered the fight as an 8-1 underdog and dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision victory.
“He had an amazing performance. Hats off to Ryan and I would love the fight if it presented itself,” Barboza added. “After some rest, I gotta sit and talk with the team to see what’s going to be happening next.”
The fight was the second for Barboza under his recent promotional pact with Golden Boy Promotions.
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