Conor Benn turned up for the faceoff. Ryan Garcia did not. The two met for Garcia’s WBC welterweight title on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Benn arrived at the scheduled faceoff on Tuesday to find his opponent absent and did not hide his irritation.
In a post on his Instagram story, Garcia was not apologizing for anything. He posted an Instagram story that appeared to show someone playing video games.
Guys, I apologize for Ryan doing what Ryan does. Nice relaxing time as Conor waste time showing up to a face off
He followed it with a shot at Benn’s weight cut, which has been the story of the camp.
Back to the sauna you go…
Benn’s answer came from the faceoff site, where his father Nigel joked about whether his son would back down.
He needs to get his —- together because come Saturday he’s in for a real, real shock.
The weight is a genuine question rather than a talking point. Benn has not made 147lbs since stopping Chris van Heerden in April 2022, has since fought as high as middleweight twice against Chris Eubank Jr, and last appeared at a 150lb catchweight against Regis Prograis in April. He has already said this is his final fight at welterweight regardless of the result.
Garcia is 28 and 25-2 with 20 knockouts, making the first defense of the belt he took from Mario Barrios in February. Benn is 29 and 25-1 with 14 knockouts, chasing his first world title.
There are two more scheduled meetings before the bell, a press conference on Thursday and the weigh-in on Friday.
