Conor Benn intends to let his fists do the talking on Saturday night.
In today’s world of social media and limited attention spans, promoting a boxing match is not easy. It requires trash talking, overhyping and all manner of stunts to ensure eyeballs are firmly fixed on it.
Some fighters are more acclimatised and comfortable with this aspect of the sport. Ryan Garcia, the man who Benn faces in Las Vegas this weekend, can certainly be filed under the term ‘showman’ given his escapades in the build-up to this fight.
Garcia, 28, is the reigning WBC welterweight champion after defeating Mario Barrios earlier this year. During Thursday’s news conference ahead of the fight, it was Garcia who took centre stage with a flurry of taunts, expletives and even a pre-meditated stunt involving him eating a boiled egg (a subtle nod to the Benn’s positive tests for clomifene in 2022 and the WBC’s subsequent ruling that an elevated consumption of eggs could provide a reasonable explanation).
“He has a lot of familiarity with eggs so I thought I’d eat some,” Garcia sarcastically said.
That was just one stunt the American pulled in an attempt to get a psychological advantage heading into the bout which is, remarkably, the first time Benn has fought with a world title on the line.
He’ll attempt to pull off a task that is seldom easy for a British boxer, trying to snatch away titles from an American in their backyard. His father Nigel famously did it back in 1990 against Doug DeWitt and once again Benn senior is in his son’s corner for this one as he looks to see history repeat itself.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the fight, Nigel said: “I’ve watched him religiously for 10 years put his life on the line. He’s just going from strength to strength, from glory to glory. I see him being victorious. I’m not actually worried whatsoever.”
As for Conor, he knows this represents the toughest test of his career to date. But he goes into it off the back of a career-defining win that settled the boiling rivalry with Chris Eubank Junior (for now) and then backed that up with a points victory over ex-world champion Regis Prograis.
Benn has been careful with his words this week and chose not to rise to Garcia’s bait. Amid all the noise from his opposite number, Benn simply said: “All the talking is done. People did too much talking. Talk is cheap.”
