Ryan Garcia Explains Why He Skipped Conor Benn Face-Off
Ryan Garcia said he skipped Tuesday’s face-off with Conor Benn because he did not want to do it, then laughed at the image of his opponent standing there without him. The no-show set the tone for fight week in Las Vegas, four days before Garcia’s first defense of the WBC welterweight title at T-Mobile Arena.
Garcia, 28, addressed the absence on Wednesday. He did not apologize.
“It’s just something I didn’t want to do. It was funny seeing him staring at himself.”
He said the week already had enough staredowns. There is a press conference Thursday, a weigh-in Friday, and a final face-off in the ring when the referee gives instructions.
Garcia also said he has had fight weeks in Las Vegas before and has never been asked to pose on a Tuesday. He has a routine, he said, and the extra photo op was not part of it.
Benn was not in on the joke. The 29-year-old Briton showed up at Mandalay Bay with media waiting, then found out the champion was not coming.
“I apologise for Ryan doing what Ryan does and bottling it,” Benn said. “We turn up, we’re here, ready for the face-off.”
His father, former two-weight world champion Nigel Benn, filled the empty space. He squared up to his son for the cameras and made the point Garcia had skipped.
Conor Benn then turned the slight into a warning. He said Garcia needed to get his sh*t together, and that Saturday would be a shock.
On Wednesday he called the no-show disrespectful to the public. In his view, the people who bought into the fight week deserved the face-off.
Garcia had already posted from elsewhere. While Benn waited, the champion shared a clip of a relaxing night and a video game, writing that Benn was wasting time showing up.
He also went after Benn’s weight cut. The fight is at 147 pounds, and Garcia told him to get back in the sauna.
That is the game Garcia is playing. He is 25-2 with 20 knockouts and won the WBC belt by unanimous decision over Mario Barrios in February. This is his first defense.
Benn is 25-1 with 14 knockouts and has never fought for a world title. He is the one who has to make 147 on Friday, and Garcia is treating that cut as part of the fight.
Whether skipping Tuesday rattled Benn is another question. Garcia said he did not know if it affected him and did not really care. He was glad people got a kick out of it.
The rest of the week will force them into the same room. Thursday’s press conference is the next scheduled meeting. Friday’s weigh-in is the one that actually matters.
If Benn is heavy, the title fight changes. If both make weight, they finally share a ring on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
Garcia has now said the skipped face-off was a choice, not a mix-up. Benn has now said the champion bottled it. The public will get the staredown it was promised, just not on Garcia’s Tuesday.