Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn: Picks, predictions, more

Ryan Garcia puts his WBC welterweight title on the line against Conor Benn at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (Paramount+, 8 p.m. ET). Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) started his career with 23 consecutive victories, but he is 2-2 with one no-contest in his past five fights. He defeated Devin Haney in April 2024, but the victory was later overturned after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine. He lost a decision to Rolando "Rolly" Romero a year later before rebounding with a dominant performance against Mario Barrios in February to win the title. Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) is coming off a one-sided victory over former champion Regis Prograis in April. Benn moved down to a 150-pound catchweight for that fight after competing mostly at middleweight in recent years. He twice tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in 2022 and was suspended in 2023. After being cleared to fight in the U.S., Benn had two fights before returning to the U.K. for two bouts against longtime rival Chris Eubank Jr. Benn has said he plans to move up to 160 pounds or higher after this fight, making the 147-pound limit against Garcia an important part of the matchup. Can Garcia use his speed and quickness to land his powerful left hand? Or can Benn take away that weapon by getting inside, attacking from different angles and applying pressure from the opening bell? Two former champions, a title contender and a celebrity boxing fan weigh in on the matchup and make their picks. Editor's note: Content has been edited for brevity and clarity. Raul Marquez, boxing analyst, retired former junior middleweight champion and member of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame The matchup Ryan has fought way better opposition compared to Conor. Benn has fought Chris Eubank Jr., a Regis Prograis on the way down and Chris Algieri. I mean, that's who Conor Benn's beat. Ryan has been in there with way better fighters like Mario Barrios, Devin Haney, Oscar Duarte and Gervonta "Tank" Davis. For Ryan to win the fight, he's got to use his speed, his footwork and control the distance, fight a very disciplined fight. By that, I mean not getting drawn into Conor's fight. I think Conor, he's going to have to work, man. He's going to have to find a way to get inside. It's going to be hard, but you've got to give Ryan a lot of head movement, a lot of feints, tag him from different angles, but keep coming forward. Conor is not going to win the fight from the outside. He's got to get in there, but will he get in there? I don't know. He could get hit by the left hook-right hand by Ryan. How does Garcia win the fight? Ryan wins the fight by controlling the pace and the distance, mid-long range with his long jab, landing a one-two (left jab, right cross). And when Conor is coming in, go with either the right hand-left hook or the left hook-right hand, either one. If Ryan catches him coming in, I think Round 6, Round 7, middle rounds, Conor gets knocked out. But Ryan has to be disciplined, and that comes with the experience that he has from fighting guys like Duarte, Rolando Romero that are pressure fighters. Duarte is a pressure fighter. So is Barrios. "Tank" Davis, too. Because of those fights, Ryan has the experience to be patient, draw the guy in and catch him coming in with his long reach. Sooner or later, he'll be able to time Conor and catch him with a combination. He's got power in both hands. In past fights, we've seen that he's developed more of a right hand. So, it's not just a left hook; you've got to look out for the right hand, too. So as long as Ryan stays focused and disciplined, he will win the fight. For Ryan, the key is to not get into a firefight early on. Conor is going to try to drag him into a total toe-to-toe match. Ryan has got to pick his spots when he wants to get into a firefight and when he wants to fight from the outside. As long as he does that, he's going to be fine. If Conor gets in there, just hold him. I mean, it is a tactic and people use it. How does Benn win the fight? I think Conor will come out explosive. He fights with his emotions and he talks a lot, and I think he's going to put on a show early on. He's going to come out throwing. He's going to try to figure out a way to get inside and force Ryan into a toe-to-toe match. Bully him, grab him, headbutts, elbows, just go for broke. He has to fight that kind of fight; there's no way he wins from the outside. He's got to be in there and go to work every minute of every round. Can he do that? He might be able to do that for three, four, five rounds, but because of the weight cutting and the fact that he hasn't been in the 147-pound weight class for so long, obviously the longer the fight goes, the harder it'll be for him. Ryan can also fight inside, so if he does, Conor can go to the body and attack at angles. Don't square up. Make sure you don't stand right in front of Ryan in the line of fire. Don't be so headfirst; attack to the right and to the left. Try to push Ryan back. It's hard to do, especially with an experienced guy like Ryan. When the bell rings, Conor has got to be on his toes fast. He can't be flat-footed. He's got to be fast on his feet, side to side, a lot of head movement, a lot of feints, and go to work from different angles. But how long can he do that? And Ryan could catch him on the inside with uppercuts, because Ryan throws some good uppercuts, and then the left hook. So, I just don't see how Conor gets the job done as the fight goes on. Can he surprise Ryan early on? Yes. Prediction: Ryan wins in the middle rounds by knockout. I think it'll go more than five rounds. I think it ends sometime from the seventh through the ninth rounds. Sergio Mora, broadcast analyst, retired former junior middleweight champion The matchup It kind of irks me that these guys are getting this huge, huge, huge opportunity after they're coming off of blemishes. Not only blemishes, but Garcia has a failed PED test, then he gets a shot at a title, wins it. Now he's the champion, he's the man. Benn, same with him, coming off losses and a failed PED test. And both of them get rewarded with a huge opportunity. So as a fighter, obviously I'm going to speak up for the people that deserve those big opportunities that these guys are getting. Great for them, bad for the sport. I also don't think this is going to be a fair fight because Benn is not going to be strong after cutting all that weight. Garcia has proved that he can carry the weight. He has the size and he's moving up and he's a champion now. So yeah, this is going to be a popular fight as far as the two names go. That's the reason these two are fighting, because of their names and popularity and what they can sell. But as far as the fight goes, I think it's going to be one-sided. I think Garcia is just going to be too big, too strong, too fast and too young for Benn. How does Garcia win the fight? He needs to use the right hand, just like he did against Mario Barrios. If Garcia was beatable, it was because he was a one-trick pony for so long, just having a left hand. Once he started fighting better fighters, his team realized that was not going to be enough. You've got to be a two-fisted threat to beat champions. That's why Garcia wasn't able to beat Gervonta "Tank" Davis, because how do you beat an explosive southpaw without a right hand? And it cost him. So, he developed the right hand. I think he looked great against Barrios, because he looked like a complete fighter. His discipline is a lot better. I think his father [who is training him for this fight] has really made him a better, more responsible, disciplined fighter. He's not out there doing crazy s--- anymore. It looks like he's trained properly. And I just think he's going to be too much for Benn in every category. There's not one thing that Benn has over Garcia, not even experience. Even in that area, Garcia has fought better fighters. So, I think it's going to be a one-sided fight. Benn is an aggressive fighter. He squares up a lot and he's been effective doing that. But it won't work against Garcia, who has a wicked right uppercut and left hook. He caught Javier Fortuna with that left hook [in a 2022 knockout win]. You didn't even see that punch coming. It was just so quick, like he did against Oscar Duarte [in a 2023 knockout]. Duarte squares up a lot. I think this fight could be similar to Duarte's. If you go back and watch that fight, Duarte was having success with his aggression, pinning Garcia against the ropes, getting aggressive. But then what? I think it was the eighth round, he caught him with that incredible hook and then boom. It was a punch that's going to land on Benn. I think that's the same way he stops Benn and around the same time. How does Benn win the fight? Benn's going to have to not fight like Benn fights. He's going to have to wait for Garcia to make the mistakes, maybe let Garcia come to him. Benn needs to maybe force Garcia to box and come forward. Benn has to use a lot of jabs, has to be on the tip of his toes, he has to bounce, he has to move backwards. That's not who he is. I've never seen him do that, not for an extended time. But I think that's what he needs to do. Let Garcia come to you, let Garcia make the mistakes, let Garcia be vulnerable in combinations. When you attack Garcia, he's so quick with just two punches, sometimes even one punch, the left hook, that he makes fighters pay. But if you make him come forward, he's not going to be able to counter with those shots like he does when someone's on the front foot. To avoid the right hand and also being defensively conscious of the left hand, Benn has to use foot feints. You've got to do a lot of feints to get the opponent to react, because when you're dealing with someone so quick-triggered and he releases the punch that he's thinking of throwing, foot feints are the key. If Benn doesn't come out there and start feinting with his feet and moving laterally and not relying on aggression, he's going to get knocked out. The way I would fight Garcia is, I would prepare for a fast-foot fight, a lot of feints, a lot of twitching, a lot of upper body movement. I'm going to attack you, but I'm not going to attack you punching and dipping. Anytime you throw a right hand at Garcia, be ready for the left hook to come back. And once that left hook misses, then you can have an angle on him and can attack him aggressively. If Benn does that, he can have success. X-factor: The weight The difference in this fight is going to be weight. Benn is making the sacrifice to get a huge payday and a huge fight by going down two divisions in weight. And fighters that have done that look like s--- and then blame the weight. They still get paid, though, and they still get another fight because all they have to do is blame the weight. Prediction: KO. I think the sixth-, seven-round knockout. I don't see it going into the later rounds. I definitely don't see it going to a decision. Jamaine Ortiz, junior welterweight title contender The matchup I think it's going to be an entertaining fight. They both come to fight, especially Conor. They both look a little bit weight drained this week, so we're going to see how that affects them, but they're both looking pretty much the same. I think both of them are going to be susceptible to getting hurt. I definitely think we're going to see some wobbly legs and probably a knockdown. How does Garcia win the fight? I think he just has to keep his distance, keep his jab going. I know he stiff-arms a lot. He has to stiff-arm Conor. And Conor, when he rushes in -- because he tries to make the fight happen -- he can leave himself open. So, if Ryan can catch him with his signature left hook when Conor opens up, I think that's going to be the bread and butter for Ryan. Speed is power, so I think Conor can't be overly focused on the left hook and not see the other punches coming in, like the right hand. Any punch that comes in with lightning speed, it can hurt Conor. I think he's going to have to be careful. If Ryan lets his hands go enough, I think he'll take the fight. If it's up to work output, I think Conor will do more work. But I think Ryan's speed will give him better accuracy and better shot selection. How does Benn win the fight? Conor has to fake throwing a little bit. Fake some things to make Ryan throw the left hand, so you can read it a little bit better. And keep that right hand up, keep that chin down. I think the best thing is to sometimes maybe create no space. The most dangerous place is in that mid-range when you're trying to close that gap and enter in. So, when you can close space, I think there's going to be less power behind Ryan's shots. And when Conor gets inside, he has to rough him up. I'm not sure that Ryan can take pressure well, so with enough pressure and by bullying him on the inside, I think Conor can show that he's stronger. He should use that to his advantage. Fighting on the inside, getting Garcia there and not giving him space, that won't allow Ryan to use his range. Garcia uses his range pretty well. If you take that distance away from him, it takes away one of his strengths -- measuring distance with his jab. And by taking that away, I think you'll take leverage away from Ryan's shots. Prediction: I'm going to go for Garcia. I'm going to go for the American. I'm going to say decision. Said Taghmaoui, actor ("Wonder Woman," "G.I. Joe," "Three Kings"), boxing aficionado The matchup This is a serious, interesting fight. If you are a superstar, it's time to prove it. I think the weight is a key factor. Garcia has fought way higher opposition than Conor. Conor got hurt -- we saw it against Chris Eubank Jr., and it was an old Chris Eubank Jr., you know what I'm saying, without disrespect. This is a serious test for both fighters because we all know the quality of Garcia. Garcia is fast and he's proved himself. Even when he lost, he always did it with a kind of elegance. I think Garcia, when he's locked down, when he decides to fight, and when it comes to skills, I give it to Garcia. When it comes to volume and heart, that's Conor. For me, the only way Conor can win the fight is by applying pressure, pressure and more pressure. And even then, Garcia is a counter guy and he's really fast and he hits super hard. Garcia is a real fighter and he's a world champion right now. And remember one thing: Styles make fights. This is one definition of that. How does Garcia win the fight? Garcia wins by being able to avoid pressure, keep Benn at bay with the jab, using his jab like a snap, discouraging Conor to come in and punishing him when he gets inside. If I was Garcia's trainer, that would be my thing. Keep Conor away with the jab, use it as a bloody weapon, and then you cut him with that beautiful left hook or right hand and the uppercut. Garcia is going to have to be in great shape because he's going to have to use his legs and move a lot until Conor gets tired a little bit after the fifth, sixth round. So, yeah, movement, jab and wait for the right moment. Be patient. Wait, and the right moment is going to come to him. How does Conor win the fight? The only way for Benn to win is to close the distance as soon as possible and make it dirty as possible. Conor needs to move, fight dirty, close the distance, grab, make it a slugfest. That's the only way. If Conor gets to him, he's going to outpunch Garcia, and then you know what's going to happen. Prediction: I'm going for Garcia in this one.