Ryan Garcia (26-2, 1 NC, 21 KOs) says he injured his right hand, the same one that dropped Conor Benn, not during their fight but in a bare-knuckle brawl with a friend the following night.
“I hurt my hand more-so fighting someone on Sunday night. The homie wanted that work, I still had energy so I said let’s get it. We just started brawling in the room. He wanted that work so I gave it to him, bareknuckle. He wanted the smoke, easy work,” Garcia said.
Garcia did not provide many additional details about the incident, but said the friend involved was not a professional boxer.
The unusual injury came one day after Garcia successfully defended his WBC welterweight title with a second-round TKO of Benn in Las Vegas. Garcia dropped Benn with a right hand before the referee stopped the fight at 1:25 of the second round. Garcia is now looking toward his next fight, with WBA titleholder Teofimo Lopez among the opponents he has publicly targeted.