Ryan Garcia Stops Conor Benn in Second Round

Ryan Garcia made emphatic work of his first world title defense, stopping Conor Benn in the second round to retain the WBC welterweight world championship on Saturday, September 12, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) put Benn on notice in the first round with a left hook that buckled his knees, then delivered the finish in the second — a heavy overhand right that dropped Benn hard to the canvas. Benn beat the count, but Garcia closed the distance immediately and unloaded a flurry of punches, including a hard chopping shot to the temple, before referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to wave it off at 1:25 of round two.

It ended months of build-up and bad blood between the two in a fraction of the expected distance. Some observers called the stoppage a touch premature but Benn offered no complaints. He was transported to hospital for precautionary reasons, according to Zuffa Boxing co-founder Dana White.

Victory capped a big night for Garcia, who first won the belt in February with a dominant win over Mario Barrios at the same venue. Benn (25-2, 14 KOs), fighting for his first world title and seeking to match his father Nigel’s achievement of winning a championship in the U.S., arrived off the back of avenging his lone loss to Chris Eubank Jr. and beating former champion Regis Prograis in his Zuffa debut.

Garcia wasted no time looking ahead, calling out WBA champion Teofimo Lopez and WBO titleholder Devin Haney, positioning himself for a potential run at undisputed status at 147 pounds.

Earlier in the evening, Jai Opetaia stopped Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round of their cruiserweight match-up. Opetaia was ahead 79-73 on all three of the judges’s scorecards.