Former world champion Adrien Broner has delivered a knockout prediction for Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn, believing the 147lb limit could prove a tremendous obstacle for one half of the main event.
Their welterweight showdown was announced earlier this week, confirming September 12 and Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena as the respective date and destination.
Even before the arrival of an official announcement, though, many had identified Garcia as a sizable favourite heading into his maiden WBC world title defence.
This was partly due to his title-winning performance against Mario Barrios, who he dethroned with a unanimous decision victory in February.
Conversely, there is scant evidence to suggest that Benn is even capable of competing at world level, given his signature wins have all come against faded fighters.
It is worth noting, too, that the 29-year-old has not fought at 147lbs since his second-round finish over Chris van Heerden in 2022.
Because of this, there are serious doubts over whether Benn will even make weight against Garcia, let alone have what it takes to emerge victorious.
And these doubts, it seems, are being considered by former boxing star Broner, who shared his thoughts during a livestream posted by Deen The Great.
“Is [Benn] gonna make [147lbs]? I don’t think he’ll make it. I honestly see it being like a nasty knockout.”
During the livestream, Broner was joined by a confident Garcia, who agreed that his opponent is unlikely to make championship weight.
Such doubts can partly be explained by Benn’s last outing, against Regis Prograis, who he unanimously outpointed at a catchweight of 150lbs in April.
