Joe Goossen in Mario Barrios' corner for Ryan Garcia's next title fight
Joe Goossen is 72 years old, has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and has a comfortable analyst’s gig for Prime Video pay-per-view fights.
Yet, what the veteran trainer lives for is the six-days-a-week grind of opening his gym in the San Fernando Valley section of Southern California, sculpting fighters and feeling infused by their youthful enthusiasm for the upcoming fight – for life.
“I’m really preoccupied with the work of today, tomorrow and the next day and I don’t think past that,” Goossen told Boxing Scene this week. “I love going to the gym. I do not ever want to retire, to tell you the truth. Because I enjoy what I do.
“It keeps me feeling as youthful as you can be at 72. It keeps me moving. I have the enjoyment of hanging out with guys who think like me – athletes who love the sport, who are active. We hang out a lot. I haven’t worked out with anyone over 30 since I started. The whole mindset in my gym is youthful, and it keeps me in that mind. I may look [72], but I don’t feel it. This keeps me in shape.”
Goossen now has taken on one of the most unique assignments of his career, inheriting the WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios 29-2-2 (18 KOs) from trainer-manager friend Bob Santos and preparing Barrios for a February 21 Prime Video main-event title defense versus former Goossen product, the popular three-time title challenger Ryan Garcia 24-2 (20 KOs).
Goossen cornered Garcia, 27, for three fights, including his WBA lightweight title contest in 2023 versus unbeaten Gervonta Davis, who knocked out Garcia in the seventh round.
Following the loss, Garcia cut ties with Goossen, a time-honored adjustment fighters often take that leaves the implication someone other than them is to blame.
If anyone understands that part of the game it’s Goossen, a member of one of boxing’s most powerful families that counts his late brother, Hall of Fame promoter Dan Goossen, brother-in-law and TGB Promotions head Tom Brown, and TGB executive Brittany Goossen Brown.
Guiding Barrios toward Garcia might seem to offer material for a nearby Hollywood script, but Goossen isn’t feeding the story.
“Listen, you’d be vowing revenge every other week in this sport if you took that stance,” he said. “I harbor no ill will toward any fighter. I’ve never really wanted revenge on anybody, in or out of the ring.
“Look, Ryan used my gym a couple of months ago to do some publicity with some young YouTuber. I’ve spoken to Ryan over the past couple years since we stopped working. I hold no ill will. When everything is said and done, it’s a business. It’s not healthy to vow revenge. I just want to win.”
It was actually Santos who suggested Barrios’ shift to Goossen following the San Antonio fighter’s back-to-back draws versus Abel Ramos on the 2024 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson card and against 47–year-old Manny Pacquiao in July.
Santos and Goossen have known each other for more than 20 years, including their reverse change-over when Santos took the cornering duties for former two-division champion Robert Guerrero.
“Because [Santos] spent so much time in my gym, he had a good grasp of what I could – and would – do,” Goossen said. “That’s what initiated the phone call to ask me if I would work with Mario for this fight. Of course I would. There was no hesitation there.”
Barrios has only lost to former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman and only been stopped by Davis, but the draws have conjured questions about whether he’s plateaued and ripe to surrender his glamour belt.
“He’s a really good fighter. You can go back and see that in his best performances.There’s a lot of talent there, and without being too specific, I think sometimes a new system – a new way – can light a fire under a guy,” Goossen said of Barrios. “And I see that with Mario how. He’s very motivated. There’s not anything I ask him in the gym that he’s not willing to do. He’s a great listener.
“We’re working on the game plan. We’re tightening the screws on everything. And we’re working on correcting his flaws and upping his game, upping his output.”
One of the criticisms of Barrios’ showing versus eight-division champion and Hall of Famer Pacquiao was that the champion was too deferential, too respectful of the legend.
Is Barrios too nice for this blood sport?
“He can’t be too nice. He’s a world champion,” Goossen answered. “Just because he’s not overly aggressive out of the ring or at press conferences is an advantage in a way because he doesn’t lose sight of his objective. He’s under control.
“I understand what you’re saying. Can everybody up their game, get more aggressive and do more things? Yeah, there’s always room for that type of improvement, but I think it goes hand in hand with the objectives of what we’re doing in the gym. That will manifest itself. You will see more of the above. How we’re working, you’ll see a dramatic difference.”
Goossen said he doesn’t believe he possesses a secret formula to defeat Garcia based on the knowledge gained during their intimate hours training in the gym.
“Even if I hadn’t trained Ryan, I’ve watched his fights before and I’ve watched his fights since,” Goossen said. “You can get a very good idea of what Ryan does from that.”
If there’s one detail that stands out, it’s Goossen’s observation that Garcia has compromised his hellacious power left hand by moving up from lightweight to welterweight, where he lost his May fight by decision to new WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero.
“When I talked about Ryan’s power as I was training him, that was at 135. For that weight category, yes – devastating power, the PSI (pounds per square inch) was off the charts,” Goossen said. “He’s at 147 now, and it happens all the time when guys move up. Their power can be very effective two weight divisions below, and then it can get moderated when you move up in weight. You’ve seen that with others – fighting bigger guys. That being said, Ryan still hits very hard.”
By considering that and pressing Barrios to harness a fiercer, more effective approach, as he did so vividly in 2005 in the corner of the late Diego Corrales in the likely best fight of this century versus Jose Luis Castillo, Goossen, at 72, believes he can direct Barrios to a title victory as he did in the 1980s with Hall of Famer Michael Nunn and the Ruelas brothers, Gabriel and Rafael.
“I don’t think in those terms, [of collecting another] world title,” Goossen said. “The whole thing about titles is they only come if you do six days a week in the gym. That’s what I’m focused on: working hard, developing strategy, crafting drills that will be used in the fight. I don’t need to think too much more than that beyond the future.”
With seven weeks to go, Goossen projects Barrios, 30, will be fully prepared to deprive Garcia of a title once more.
“From day one, Mario jumped into this feet first,” Goossen said. “It makes you very happy as a trainer when guys cooperate and trust you. When fighters give you feedback, that makes you believe you’re doing the right thing.
“He’s been phenomenal. I couldn’t ask for a better partnership. I said it after his fight with Pacquiao: The world needs more men like Mario Barrios. He’s a class act.”
