Ryan Garcia gives honest rating of Conor Benn’s power ahead of world title fight

Next month Ryan Garcia will defend his WBC welterweight world title for the first time as he takes on Conor Benn atop a blockbuster Las Vegas bill. Ahead of the fight, the Californian has shared his thoughts on Benn’s power and skillset.

Garcia got his hands on the WBC crown in a dominant win over Mario Barrios back in February, 12 months on from an unsuccessful attempt at dethroning Rolando Romero in a challenge at Times Square.

Soon after Garcia’s triumph, it was announced that Benn would be installed as his mandatory challenger, despite the fact that the Briton has not fought as a welterweight in his last five fights – a run dating back to April 2022.

During that time, Benn has failed to register a stoppage win and in a below-par showing against Regis Progais upon his most recent outing, back in April, the 29-year-old seemed to be struggling with the move back down in weight.

As a result, many fighters and fight fans are predicting a relatively straightforward victory for Garcia come fight night and ‘King Ry’ appeared to share that confidence, giving Benn just 5 out of 10 for his power and a 1 out of 10 for his boxing ability when discussing his opponent’s skills in an interview with DAZN Boxing.

“[How do you rate Benn’s power?] 5. 

“[Speed?] 6.

“[Defense?] 3.

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“[Footwork?] 2.

“[Boxing?] 1.”

Garcia-Benn will headline a T-Mobile Arena card on Saturday, September 12, on DAZN pay-per-view, with the co-main event seeing Jai Opetaia collide with the current reigning WBC cruiserweight world champion in Armenia’s Noel Mikaelian – although his status could change prior their meeting.