Carl Froch has rated Conor Benn out of ten as his fellow Brit goes for gold against WBC champion Ryan Garcia on September 12.
The two welterweights will collide at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, with Garcia making his first world title defence since dethroning Mario Barrios in February.
It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him (a) score a first-round knockdown and (b) claim a dominant unanimous decision victory.
But while some already consider Garcia a world-class fighter, others feel that the 28-year-old must prove his top-level credentials against a more formidable opponent.
He did, after all, suffer a points defeat to Rolando Romero in May 2025, just over a year after his majority decision triumph over Devin Haney was ruled a no-contest.
This was because the American tested positive for banned substance ostarine, for which he served a 12-month ban and received further criticism after returning with an uninspiring performance. Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.
But while Garcia is hardly a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame just yet, it must be said that Benn is even less qualified for a status of such magnitude.
In fact, the 29-year-old has not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two wins coming via unanimous decision against faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.
But even without mentioning his lack of signature wins at welterweight, former world champion Froch gave Benn a below-average rating on his YouTube channel.
“Conor Benn’s a solid three out of ten.”
The 29-year-old will be looking to prove analysis like this wrong when he steps up against Garcia in September, with a world title win silencing doubters.
