Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn go toe-to-toe for the WBC welterweight title in one of the highest profile bouts of the year next month, and esteemed British boxing trainer Peter Fury has offered his thoughts on the contest.
Garcia dethroned Mario Barrios at the beginning of the year to get his hands on the first world title of his career, with Benn installed as his mandatory challenger soon after despite the fact that ‘The Destroyer’ has not competed as a welterweight since April 2022.
Already, Benn has publicly announced that this contest will be his final bout as a welterweight, rumoured to be feeling the full effects of a brutal weight cut, having fought twice as a middleweight last year.
Speaking to Boxing Now, Peter Fury declared his belief that fight fans are wrong to overlook Benn’s chances in the fight.
“I think that they [the public] can underestimate Conor Benn to a degree. I think that he is very good, he is a good fighter and mentally, as well, very strong. He will totally believe in himself and I think that he has got a good chance of pulling it off.
“He is fighting an exceptional champion in Ryan Garcia and sometimes people can blow hot and cold, but I think that, with the Conor Benn scenario, Garcia will have the bit between his teeth as well. So, I think that you are going to see the best of both of them.”
Whilst refusing to forecast a winner, Fury predicted a ‘closely-contested war’, with Benn keen to prove his doubters wrong.
“Can Conor Benn do it? Of course he can, he can do it. Can Ryan Garcia do it? Yes, he can, it is one of them types of fights. I’m not sitting on the fence, I think that this is going to be a hard fight. Conor Benn is no walk in the park for anybody, so I see it being a closely-contested war, that is what I can see.”
Garcia-Benn takes place on Saturday, September 12, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Jai Opetaia set to collide with reigning WBC cruiserweight world champion, Noel Mikaelian, in the co-main event of the bill.
