Teofimo Lopez Picks Conor Benn Upset in Garcia Title Fight
Teofimo Lopez picked Conor Benn to beat Ryan Garcia, and he picked him for the upset by decision. Most of the other names asked for a winner went the other way. The man who crashed Thursday’s press conference in a fake beard is the one who would not crown the champion.
Lopez holds the WBA super welterweight title. He already told both men he wants the winner. His prediction still went to Benn. “Tough fight, I’m going with Benn for the upset by Decision,” he wrote.
That is the line that matters on fight day. Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) defends the WBC belt tonight at T-Mobile Arena. Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) is in his first world title fight after making 146 pounds on Friday. Garcia made 145.5. The champion is a sizable favorite. Lopez is not betting the favorite.
Adrien Broner did. The former world champion kept it short. “Ryan by knockout.”
Deen the Great answered with one word. “ryan.”
The boxer who fights as Oblivion did not even leave room for a round. “Ryan Garcia easy.”
Arman Tsarukyan, the UFC lightweight who headlines next week’s co-main in Los Angeles, first admitted he did not know the British challenger. “I don’t know Conor Benn,” he wrote. Then he picked the champion anyway, spelling it his own way. “Rayn W.”
Nina Drama, who has been around Garcia’s fight-week content, called a knockout and refused to name who lands it. “What’s up fam? My prediction is this fight ends in a KNOCKOUT!” she wrote. “Wish I could tell you who I think is gonna knock out who… but I’d lose my job LMAO. I’m livestreaming at the fight with special guests so tune in.”
The split is the story. Four of the replies land on Garcia. One lands on a stoppage without a winner. Lopez is the only world champion in the stack who gave Benn the night, and he gave it to him on points, not on a punch.
That tracks the fight he says he wants next. A Garcia knockout keeps the unification simple. A Benn decision makes the WBA champion’s next opponent a new WBC titleholder who just pulled the upset in Las Vegas. Lopez called it a tough fight. He still took the dog.
Garcia has spent the week selling lucky number 21, a highlight knockout, and a fight that does not see the sixth round. Benn has spent it making the weight Garcia said he could not make and telling the champion not to cuddle him. Nigel Benn has called Garcia one-dimensional. Tony Bellew, speaking separately, has been on Benn by knockout. The DMs are not a poll of Britain. They are a poll of Garcia’s orbit, and even there Lopez would not play along.
Benn has never been stopped. Fourteen of his wins ended inside the distance, but the Eubank nights went the long way, and Prograis went the distance at a catchweight. If Lopez is right, the speed gap does not produce the left hook everyone came to see. It produces 12 rounds and a British hand raised.
If Broner is right, the same pressure Lopez is counting on walks Benn into the punch Garcia has been advertising since July. The champion said Benn will get angry, run in, and find the floor. The challenger said five rounds or less the other direction.
Tonight is the only count that grades the group chat. Garcia is the favorite, the champion, and the name most of the replies typed first. Lopez is the one who has to fight the winner, and he still picked Benn. That is either the sharpest read in the thread or the one that will look worst by midnight. The WBC title is on the line either way. The predictions are already in.