Ryan Garcia dispatched of Conor Benn with ease on Saturday as he made a first successful defence of his WBC welterweight title, and pound-for-pound superstar David Benavidez has shared his thoughts on Garcia’s display.
Garcia needed only two rounds to halt Benn at the T-Mobile Arena over the weekend, landing a flush right-hand that shook the Briton to his core and dropped him, before Benn was stopped on his feet just seconds after returning to them.
The win marks a first career title defence for ‘King Ry’, who is now expected to pursue a unification clash with WBA titleholder Teofimo Lopez, whilst Benn’s first career stoppage defeat is expected to prompt a move up to either middleweight or super-middleweight.
Speaking with Fight Hub TV, Benavidez declared that the speed of Garcia was the key difference in the contest, as well as the power that comes with it.
“[Garcia was] too fast, great hook. People go in there and think that they can handle Ryan’s speed, but Ryan’s speed is on a different level and he has power behind that speed too.
“He had a great show, a great night and I am really proud of him.”
Others have protested the stoppage from referee Thomas Taylor, believing that his intervention was somewhat premature. Although, ‘The Mexican Monster’ had no complaints, believing that the outcome was inevitable at that point.
“I think Conor Benn was hurt pretty bad. If he [Taylor] didn’t stop it then, he would have stopped it in the next round.”
Benavidez, who holds the WBA and WBO cruiserweight world titles, is set to challenge newly-crowned WBC cruiserweight ruler Michal Cieslak on December 12 in Phoenix, as he seeks to become a three-belt unified world champion in the 200lb division.
