Ryan Garcia Stops Conor Benn in Round 2 to Retain WBC Title
Ryan Garcia stopped Conor Benn at 1:25 of the second round Saturday night, retaining the WBC welterweight title in his first defense at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Referee Thomas Taylor waved it off after Garcia dropped Benn with a right hand and then pinned him on the ropes with a finishing flurry.
Garcia improved to 26-2 with 21 knockouts. Benn fell to 25-2 with 14 KOs in his first world title fight, his second career defeat.
The 28-year-old champion won the belt in February at the same building, dropping Mario Barrios and taking a wide unanimous decision. This was his third fight at 147 pounds and the first time he has put the WBC strap on the line.
Benn, 29, was moving back to welterweight for the first time in more than four years. The Englishman, son of former two-division champion Nigel Benn, had said this would be his last appearance at the weight regardless of the result.
He came forward as advertised. Garcia’s speed and left hook were already a problem in Round 1, and Benn had to hold on after getting buzzed as the opening three minutes closed.
Garcia did not wait long in the second. He stood his ground, caught Benn coming in with a right hand to the jaw, and put him on the canvas about 45 seconds into the round.
Benn beat the count on unsteady legs. Garcia closed in with left hooks and right hands, drove him to the ropes, and kept throwing until Taylor stepped between them with the challenger no longer returning fire.
“I kind of figured he would just come at me crazy,” Garcia said. “Second round, I said I’m tired of him coming forward; I’m gonna stand my ground a little bit … and then he got caught with a hellacious one.”
The stoppage came 4 minutes and 25 seconds into the scheduled 12-round fight. It was Garcia’s fastest knockout since he stopped Francisco Fonseca in the first round in February 2020, and it matched the promise he made to finish Benn inside five rounds.
The right hand has become the weapon of his title run. He dropped Barrios with it in February, then used it again Saturday after years of talking about hand injuries that limited that punch.
“I’ve always had a right hand; I’ve just always had injuries,” Garcia said. “This is kind of the first two fights I had no injuries in my right hand.”
An announced sold-out crowd of 18,855 saw the Mexican Independence Day weekend main event end in a hurry. Some ringside voices, including Max Kellerman on the broadcast, thought Taylor jumped in early, but Benn was hurt, trapped, and not punching back when the fight was waved off.
Benn was taken to a hospital afterward for examination. He walked from the ring, then needed further checks after the beating.
The win sets up the unification talk Garcia wanted. WBA welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez was ringside, as was WBO titleholder Devin Haney, and Garcia called Lopez toward the ring after the stoppage.
“I want to unify against Teófimo,” Garcia said. “I think that’s the move. It’s a huge fight and Teó’s an entertaining dude and it’s going to be a hell of a buildup and he’s a good fighter too, so let’s run it.”
Lopez has also been linked to a mandated defense against Jack Catterall. Nothing is booked, and Garcia’s next fight remains unconfirmed even as he told the arena he wants to clear the 147-pound division.
For Benn, the night ends as a first title shot that never got out of the second round. He pressed from the opening bell, paid for the reckless entries Garcia expected, and now has to rebuild away from a weight class he already planned to leave.
Garcia left Las Vegas still the WBC welterweight champion, 26-2, and pointing at Lopez. The statement he promised lasted less than five minutes.