Conor Benn plans to be sitting ringside, assessing the skills of his future opponent, when Mario Barrios defends his WBC world title against Ryan Garcia.
It was announced on Monday that their welterweight encounter will take place at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, on February 21, with Barrios looking to claim his first victory as WBC champion.
After being upgraded from interim to full WBC champion, the 30-year-old defended his title with back-to-back draws against Abel Ramos and a 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao.
The Pacquiao fight, which took place this past July, saw Barrios produce a largely one-dimensional performance but nonetheless get his hand raised through sheer work rate and consistency.
As for Garcia, a far more lacklustre display ultimately saw him return from a year-long drugs ban and get dropped and outpointed by Rolando Romero in May.
Before that, ‘King Ry’ scored a majority decision victory over Devin Haney in April 2024, flooring his man three times, but his result was later overturned to a no-contest due to him testing positive for banned substance ostarine.
But despite coming off a defeat and a no-contest, Garcia has nonetheless secured a world title opportunity which, unsurprisingly, has captured the interest of WBC mandatory challenger Benn.
Since his points victory over Chris Eubank Jr at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November, Benn has pledged to campaign at 147lbs and claim the green and gold title.
Speaking with Sky Sports, he predicts that Garcia will emerge victorious and face him in the UK, perhaps in another football stadium, later this year.
“I’ll be there ringside and I want the winner. No doubt [it will be] Garcia. So, Garcia-Benn – I like the sound of that.
“I’d love to do it in Vegas… But I feel like I’ll bring it here to the UK for the supporters. Another stadium sounds good, doesn’t it?”
As the WBC mandatory challenger, Benn is likely to earn his shot at the winner of Barrios-Garica at some point in 2026.
