Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn: Is Boxing’s Next Superstar Being Made?
Article by Joseph Herron of War A Week Boxing
There is a much bigger story unfolding Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena than Ryan Garcia defending the WBC welterweight championship against Conor Benn.
For the die-hard fight fan, this is an intriguing matchup between two enormously talented welterweights with something significant to prove.
For the mainstream sports fan, it is something potentially much more important.
It may be a referendum on the future of boxing in America.
For years, Canelo Alvarez has carried an enormous share of that responsibility.
The Mexican superstar has become the sport’s premier mainstream attraction in North America and one of its most dependable box-office commodities anywhere in the world. But Canelo is now firmly in the twilight of a remarkable career, and realistically, there may be only a handful of major fights remaining before one of boxing’s last great mainstream attractions finally walks away.
When he does, who fills the void?
That question has become increasingly urgent because boxing has struggled to organically create another American mainstream superstar on Canelo’s level.
Canelo belongs to something of an old guard—the generation whose development coincided with the enormous mainstream influence of HBO Sports, even though his career was also cultivated through Golden Boy and Mexican television. HBO’s eventual departure from boxing removed one of the sport’s most important mainstream platforms, and boxing has struggled to replace that kind of star-making ecosystem.
Now the sport has another opportunity.
And remarkably, that opportunity has been creating himself.
Ryan Garcia.
Garcia doesn’t need an established television network to introduce him to the public.
He built much of his enormous following through social media.
He became famous before becoming a world champion.
He turned himself into a recognizable celebrity before capturing a major title.
And that may be precisely what makes him the most logical candidate to inherit the enormous shoes Canelo will eventually leave behind.
But there is a catch.
Ryan Garcia has never made the road to superstardom easy.
In fact, his career has repeatedly demonstrated the difference between possessing extraordinary talent and possessing the maturity necessary to carry the enormous expectations that come with it.
The physical gifts have never been in question.
The speed is extraordinary.
The reflexes are exceptional.
The punching power is legitimate.
The athleticism is rare.
The appearance is marketable.
The personality is polarizing.
And the social-media following is enormous.
Those are qualities that cannot simply be manufactured in a gym.
They are the raw materials of a superstar.
But boxing has taught Garcia—and his supporters—a difficult lesson.
Talent is only the beginning.
Garcia’s first truly massive commercial examination came against Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
The event became one of the biggest boxing attractions of the post-Mayweather era, reportedly generating the largest pay-per-view audience for a boxing event since Mayweather-McGregor. Garcia ultimately lost when Davis landed the devastating body shot that forced him to take a knee in the seventh round.
Garcia lost the fight.
But something much more important happened for the business of boxing.
The industry discovered that Ryan Garcia could sell.
Then came Devin Haney.
The longtime amateur rivals finally met in one of the most anticipated fights of 2024, and Garcia produced a remarkable performance, dropping Haney three times and winning the fight.
But the result was subsequently overturned to a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for ostarine, and he received a one-year suspension.
Whatever one’s interpretation of the circumstances surrounding that controversy, the damage to Garcia’s mainstream momentum was undeniable.
Then came Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
Garcia returned from his suspension as an enormous favorite, only to be dropped and outpointed by Romero in a stunning Times Square upset.
For a fighter trying to become America’s next great boxing attraction, it was another painful reminder that boxing’s biggest stages are unforgiving.
And yet somehow, Garcia remained relevant.
That may be his greatest commercial asset of all.
The public never stopped watching.
The public never stopped talking.
And the public never stopped wondering which version of Ryan Garcia would show up next.
Then came Mario Barrios.
And something finally clicked.
Working with his father, Henry Garcia, Ryan produced arguably the most complete performance of his professional career. He dropped Barrios in the opening round, controlled the fight for twelve rounds and captured the WBC welterweight championship by unanimous decision. The official scores were 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109.
For the first time, Garcia didn’t simply look like a spectacular athlete.
He looked like a champion.
And that distinction matters enormously heading into Saturday night.
Because Conor Benn represents a very different kind of challenge.
Benn is not coming to Las Vegas merely to participate in Ryan Garcia’s coronation.
He is coming to take the championship.
The British contender enters with a 25-1 record and 14 knockouts and is coming off an impressive victory over former two-time world champion Regis Prograis. This will be Benn’s first world-title opportunity.
He also brings a significant physical question into the matchup.
Benn has acknowledged that making 147 pounds has been extremely difficult and has described the weight cut in remarkably severe terms. He has indicated that welterweight is likely a one-time destination before returning to the heavier divisions.
That makes Saturday night fascinating.
Garcia is the more naturally gifted athlete.
Benn is the physically rugged, aggressive challenger who has already demonstrated that he can compete at a high level.
And Garcia enters as the betting favorite, although the market is nowhere near the overwhelming territory seen in some of the sport’s recent mismatches. Current sportsbooks have Garcia roughly between -275 and -350, with Benn generally around +225 to +250.
But this preview isn’t really about the odds.
It’s about the burden.
Because Ryan Garcia has reached the point where simply winning isn’t necessarily enough.
That may sound unfair.
It probably is.
But that is the reality of becoming a mainstream attraction.
Canelo didn’t merely win fights.
He created events.
Floyd Mayweather didn’t merely win fights.
He created events.
Muhammad Ali didn’t merely win fights.
He created events.
The next American boxing superstar must do the same.
And Garcia already possesses something none of the other potential candidates can easily duplicate:
A massive organic social-media audience that existed before championship gold.
There are other candidates.
Shakur Stevenson has elite defensive ability and a growing profile.
David Benavidez possesses the aggressive style and Mexican-American appeal that can translate beautifully to the mainstream.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has extraordinary ability and is building a legitimate championship résumé.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. has the kind of destructive punching power that can create highlights.
Jaron “Boots” Ennis possesses the technical ability to become one of the best fighters of his generation.
But Garcia has something different.
He already has the audience.
Now he has to prove he can keep it.
And that brings the story back to something the late great Emanuel Steward understood better than almost anyone.
Boxing is physically brutal, but the mental demands are often even greater.
A fighter can possess extraordinary physical gifts and still fail when the pressure becomes overwhelming.
The brightest lights expose everything.
Discipline.
Emotional control.
Composure.
Preparation.
Decision-making.
And the ability to remain mentally relaxed when thousands—or millions—of people are watching.
Garcia has already experienced both extremes.
He has looked virtually unstoppable.
He has also looked vulnerable.
He has produced performances that suggested a future superstar.
He has also made decisions that temporarily threatened to derail his career.
Saturday night represents another examination.
Not merely of Ryan Garcia the fighter.
But of Ryan Garcia the potential superstar.
Because the circumstances could hardly be more significant.
Canelo’s reign as boxing’s premier American-market attraction is approaching its conclusion.
A major mainstream platform is now involved in boxing through Paramount+.
Zuffa Boxing is aggressively attempting to establish itself as a major force in the sport.
And Garcia is headlining a Mexican Independence Day weekend event in Las Vegas that has been positioned as a major boxing attraction rather than simply another title fight. Paramount+ is carrying the entire U.S. event as part of its subscription, while DAZN is handling the UK and Ireland distribution.
That is an enormous stage.
And it may be the kind of stage upon which the next era of American boxing begins.
But there is one enormous caveat.
Ryan Garcia has to perform.
Not merely win.
Perform.
If he defeats Benn in a competitive twelve-round decision, the championship remains around his waist.
But will casual American sports fans care?
Will the performance create another wave of interest?
Will it generate highlights?
Will it make people who don’t normally watch boxing want to see Ryan Garcia’s next fight?
That’s the standard now.
And perhaps that is unfair.
But superstardom has never been fair.
Garcia has already demonstrated that he can attract the attention.
Now he must demonstrate that he can command it.
Conor Benn is standing directly between him and that opportunity.
And Benn is not coming to play the supporting role.
He is coming to become champion.
That is why this fight is so important.
For Garcia, it is another step toward becoming the face of American boxing.
For Benn, it is the opportunity to completely rewrite the story.
For Zuffa Boxing and Paramount+, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that boxing can become a viable mainstream American property again.
And for boxing itself, it may be something even bigger.
A chance to begin replacing what will eventually be lost when Canelo Alvarez walks away.
Nobody knows whether Ryan Garcia possesses the maturity to carry that enormous responsibility.
Nobody knows whether the lessons of Davis, Haney and Romero have permanently changed him.
Nobody knows whether the dominant version of Garcia who dismantled Mario Barrios is now the version that has finally arrived to stay.
But that is precisely why Saturday night is so compelling.
The talent has never been the question.
The opportunity has never been the question.
The audience has never been the question.
The question is whether Ryan Garcia is finally ready for the responsibility.
Because boxing may not need another talented fighter.
It needs another star.
And if Ryan Garcia can rise to the occasion under the brightest lights, defeat a dangerous and determined Conor Benn, and do it in a manner that makes America sit up and take notice, perhaps the sport’s next era won’t begin when Canelo leaves…
Perhaps it will begin when Ryan Garcia finally arrives.
Joseph Herron is the host of War A Week Boxing, a podcast that is featured on YouTube. He has been involved with boxing for over 30 years.
