By: Sean Crose
Admittedly it’s not the biggest fight that’s ever gone down on Mexican Independence Day weekend. Floyd Mayweather once owned this time frame. And after Floyd there was Canelo. And now it seems there’s Ryan Garcia. Not that Garcia isn’t a talented and exciting fighter. He most certainly is or at least he can be. If you would argue however that he’s dominated the sport in the way that Mayweather and Canelo have you’d be lying.. Then again Garcia remains just under 30 so there’s plenty of time for him to grow if of course he can or chooses to do so.
Garcia’s opponent Saturday night in Las Vegas is Conor Benn a popular English fighter who has yet to win a world title. Benn will have his chance this weekend, as Garcia is in possession of the WBC welterweight strap. Yet Benn the son of boxing royalty Nigel Benn, will no doubt have his work cut out for him. When he’s at his best Garcia is ferocious fast, explosive, andl exceedingly powerful. Ignore the baby face. Garcia can turn out the lights in an instant. He also walks into the ring on Saturday with an amateur pedigree Benn could only have dreamed of having. There’s a reason, after all, that Garcia is comfortably favored to best Been in this pay per view event.
Although he’s an effective straight punching fighter, Benn has never faced the kind of competition that Garcia has. While it’s true he bested the well-established and likable Regis Prograis in his last time out, Benn was said to have not looked his best in that fight. Couple that with the fact that he’s had to lose a ton of weight for this fight, and it’s once again easy to see why Garcia is the favorite to win on Saturday.
Still, it would be ridiculous not to give Benn at least a chance of shocking the world. “I’m just going to go in there and do what I do. I worked extremely hard and give 110% in training camp and I’m here to bring the belt home,” says Benn via Bad Left Hook. “Ultimately, I want to give the fans the fights they want…I’m prepared for a hard fight. I’ve never shied away from a fight, never shied away from a challenge.” Then again, neither has Garcia. Give each fighter this.. he’s willing to rise to the occasion. Neither of these two men is a safety first athlete.
And while it’s true Garcia likes to get in opponent’s heads, Benn has done his part to get in Garcia’s head in the lead up to the fight as well. He’s essentially said after all that Garcia isn’t really Mexican. “What the fuck he knows about that?” Garcia has responded. “He’s from the UK. He don’t know shit.” Perhaps legitimately bothered by Benn’s accusation, Garcia added that: “Come Saturday night when his blood is spilling out of his mouth, that’ll be enough to show him how Mexican I am.”
This is the kind of talk boxers are apt to engage in before a major fight. Still it seems that there might be some genuine dislike going on here. That makes for a good fight but can also make for a bad fight if overly emotional fighters happen to fall into their own emotions. Don’t expect such a thing to happen with Benn however nor with Garcia. There’s just too much at stake. That’s especially true of Garcia, who is coming in as the favorite. Benn has obviously worked very hard to shock the world this weekend. Don’t be too surprised if he does. Garcia simply isn’t always at his best.
