During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker sat down for a conversation about his life, his documentary, and his love of combat sports. During the interview, host Ariel Helwani brought up a viral video showing boxer Ryan Garcia throwing punches at both Barker and his daughter.
“I saw a video of Ryan Garcia giving your daughter a body punch,” Helwani said. “Seemed like he wasn’t going full strength, but on you he was going a little bit stronger.”
Barker confirmed the encounter and explained that even with protection, Garcia’s punches were clearly powerful.
“I was with Brian Ortega yesterday and he’s like, ‘Hey, how did it feel?’” Barker recalled. “I was like, ‘Well, if I didn’t have that pad on and he didn’t have gloves on, for sure.’”
When Helwani asked whether he could actually feel Garcia’s power through the body pad, Barker did not hesitate.
“Yeah, he’s powerful,” he said.
Helwani then suggested Garcia may have only been punching at around half strength. Barker admitted he had wondered the same thing afterward.
“I don’t know,” Barker said. “I thought the same thing afterwards. I was like, ‘Oh, was he just trolling or was he, you know, I feel like you could definitely feel the power.’”
When Helwani asked if Barker could have taken the punch without the body pad, Barker revealed that taking punches was not entirely unfamiliar territory for him.
“I’ve gotten punched a few times, you know. Just like in fun like friendly sparring or boxing,” he explained.
Helwani pointed out that Barker is in noticeably good shape and asked whether Garcia’s shots actually hurt him. Barker kept things lighthearted while refusing to fully give in.
“I mean, even if it did hurt or if I couldn’t take it, I’d never admit it,” Barker joked.
The conversation later shifted toward influencer boxing clips, with Barker recalling another instance where Garcia’s punches appeared to overwhelm someone.
“I think he’s done it to someone,” Barker said. “I think he did it to an influencer or something and I saw them puking.”
