Ryan Garcia, the often troubled and always magnetic Californian who to this point in his career seemed unsure if he’d rather be an influencer who fights or a fighter who influences, struck a blow for his fighter side on Saturday in Las Vegas. Garcia hit Conor Benn flush in the face with the mightiest right hand he’s capable of throwing early in the second round of their welterweight title bout, putting his outclassed British antagonist down shortly before putting him out. If Garcia’s not on top of the fight world already, he can at least see it from where he sits after his boffo performance.
As four-minute bouts go, this was a helluva fight.
Benn’s father is Nigel Benn, a former world middleweight champion who was absolutely beloved in his native U.K. as his fight career peaked in the 1990s. Through those bloodlines and shrewd promotion, the younger Benn became wildly popular back home. Last year, he headlined two fight cards in front of sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London with Chris Eubank Jr., whose father, Chris Eubank Sr., was the elder Benn’s main rival decades earlier. Eubank Jr. came out on top in the sons' first meeting, in April 2025, by a close but unanimous decision after 12 rounds. Their November 2025 rematch also went the distance, but Benn put Eubank Jr. down twice in the 12th round and the judges had him far ahead on all scorecards come the last bell.
Those performances, and the drawing power he showed in the family rivalry bouts, led to Benn landing an eight-figure deal from Zuffa Boxing, a new promotional joint venture between UFC boss Dana White and Turki Alalshikh, the deep-pocketed Saudi Arabian pug promoter. That’s huge money for a guy who to that point in his career had never won a world championship belt or even been in a title fight. By taking the deal from Zuffa, Benn abandoned Eddie Hearn, a powerhouse U.K. boxing promoter who’d stood by the fighter even after he was repeatedly sanctioned for having performance-enhancing drugs in post-fight pee pee tests. As soon as he signed, Benn immediately became the best-known fighter in Zuffa’s stable.
The Garcia-Benn fight was by far the biggest bout in Zuffa’s history. White put UFC’s very capable promotional machine to work. Garcia even landed a spot on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to announce his bout with Benn, giving the fight the sort of mainstream exposure that is almost nonexistent nowadays. And Saturday’s fight aired on Paramount Plus, the same streaming service that UFC went to after abandoning its traditional pay-per-view-model in hopes of expanding the potential audience. Both fighters did their part to hype the matchup by saying the meanest things possible and seeming desperate to punch each other in the face at every joint public appearance in the run-up. By fight night, there probably really was genuine hate between ‘em.
Garcia, now 28, made some very transparent plays to capture the massive Mexican fight fan demographic, an audience that will be up for grabs as soon as Canelo Alvarez hangs up his gloves. Garcia has taken some heat for rarely mentioning his ethnic roots. But the Benn bout was scheduled for Mexican Independence Day weekend, and any thought the date was coincidental were dispelled when Garcia did his ring walk draped in both American and Mexican flags, and accompanied by mariachi music (and wrestler Rey Mysterio).
Benn, who'd fought both bouts with Eubank Jr. at 160 pounds but came down to 147 pounds for a shot at a belt and the big payday, pursued Garcia from the opening bell. Garcia appeared manic as he backpedaled and danced sideways around the ring to avoid his pursuer. Both fighters looked sprightly, but Garcia’s punches were noticeably quicker and sharper than Benn’s. Despite being the aggressor, Benn was taking way more than he gave. Garcia for most of his career has been known as a one-handed fighter with a golden left hook, and he was indeed landing counter left hooks to Benn’s midsection and chin almost at will in the opening minutes. Benn, however, seemed to take every one of Garcia’s left hands in stride—something Devin Haney couldn’t do. Benn even landed a few shots of his own. The crazy pace of the opening round left everybody questioning which fighter would wilt first.
Garcia came out for the second round as if he’d determined that Benn couldn’t take him out. Garcia wasn’t running anymore. And every Garcia punch was thrown with bad intentions, if not technical perfection. He was out to hurt Benn, and not just with left hooks. About 40 seconds into the round, Garcia landed a severe right uppercut to Benn’s breadbasket, then followed it up with an uppercut to the chin. Benn took the shots and continued coming after him, so Garcia fired off a wild left haymaker that missed badly, and left him off balance and vulnerable. A fighter more capable than Benn would have immediately taken advantage of Garcia’s situation. But Benn didn’t counter, or even move out of the way of more unfriendly fire. So instead of taking any time to straighten himself up, from his off-balance stance, Garcia un-corkscrewed his body and unleashed a lightning-fast and massive right hand that smashed flush into Benn’s noggin with a level of violence that brings some folks to boxing and makes the sport indefensible to others.
Benn crumbled to the canvas as quickly as is scientifically possible. He hadn’t been knocked down since 2017. But after a few seconds on his hands and knees, he somehow got up. And though wobbly, Benn told veteran referee Tom Taylor he wanted to continue, and was allowed to. Garcia swarmed in with a series of overhand bombs from both hands, some of which landed on top of Benn’s head. Thomas, seeing like the rest of the world that Benn was on the verge of being severely harmed, yelled, “You better show me something!” at the wounded warrior. Benn then showed he had a champion’s heart, if not ability, by staying upright amid the onslaught. But after Benn ate a few more right hands, the referee had seen enough. This fight was over. Benn was done. Garcia retained his belt.
The loss leaves Benn, 29, with no obvious career options. Again, he came into the fight without ever having had a title shot, and left the ring so obviously overmatched that there’s no reason to give him another one.
Garcia’s future is as bright as Benn’s is murky. In an interview in the ring after being handed his welterweight belt, Garcia accepted kudos for proving he's got power in both hands after hearing for so many years that only his left fist had been touched by god. He also said chronic injuries to his right hand forced him to fight that way, but those ailments are in the past. Garcia also made another play to get Mexican fans to support him.
“I know some people don’t see me as Mexican because I don’t speak Spanish,” he said. Then he yelled, "Viva Mexico!" with a Mexican accent. The ploy seemed to work. The crowd roared.
Knockout power transcends ethnic boundaries, of course. So Garcia can call his own shots until further notice. He called out Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night, but a rematch with Haney is the future fight fans want most. Given how much Garcia’s star rose with his brutal Benn massacre, either bout would be huge. Bring ‘em both on.
