A ROYAL BEATDOWN
only far better than the average night of Las Vegas boxing, but was comparable to major championship events. Granted, it wasn’t on par with some of Canelo Alvarez’s blockbusters. But as the walls fairly bulged with Mexican fans, all looking for a big blowout on the Mexican Independence Day weekend (and likely some spillover from the Las Vegas Raiders’ home opener at Allegiant Stadium), it was Garcia’s second consecutive sellout at the T-Mobile Arena. It was also reported that a single video of the commercial for the contest scored an outrageous 17.7 million views during its first week online. The face of boxing? Hard to say. But in September, Garcia was pulling some numbers. Fortunately, Garcia did as he was supposed to do – with the eyes of the boxing world upon him, he produced a spectacular knockout win. Many fighters have gotten to a similar point where people were paying attention, only to eke out a split decision or some other drab verdict that leaves the customers disappointed. Garcia, loving the spotlight, stepped up and gave the viewers what they wanted. It started with a pristine right hand (not Garcia’s vaunted left hook) that put Benn on his hands and knees with a vacant expression that said he’d just been knocked clear out of his boots. The Brit beat the count but was soon on the ropes, ducking and dodging while Garcia tried to separate Benn’s head from his colorful cornrows. Did referee Thomas Taylor step in too quickly to end the bout? Maybe. But as many pointed out, Benn didn’t protest. That tells you Benn knew he was done and probably destined for another trip to his knees. Taylor spared him some unneeded damage. Garcia’s achievement was praised by one of his old rivals after the fight. “Ryan did what we all thought he was gonna do,” Devin Haney told Fight Hub TV. “He looked good. He looked sharp. He was a little jittery in the beginning, but sharp. I wasn’t surprised.” Indeed, Garcia had been a solid
supposed new face of boxing. Or maybe it was a sign that boxing’s loose cannon is still a bit loose, which might be good news for those who initially loved Garcia during his crazier times of a few years ago. We may as well accept the fact that King Ry will always be a bit on the loopy side. Would we want him any other way? Without getting too comfortable on the Garcia bandwagon, the win over Benn was encouraging for a multitude of reasons. For one, it seems the discipline he showed against Barrios has taken root. At 28, he’s become the fighter his supporters always believed he could be, combining the power and speed he’s always shown with a growing sense of savvy and professionalism. A disciplined Garcia is a dangerous Garcia. And with Mexican American fans in the market for a new boxing idol, Garcia is in position to be their icon. The green, white and red were certainly flying in Las Vegas. Of course, Garcia ended the party so quickly that we didn’t get to see how he might react under Benn’s pressure. We’re also still curious to see how he’ll take punches at 147. He really hasn’t been tagged yet by a real, hard-hitting welterweight. The Garcia of the past was wobbled and dropped a few times, but was that because he was drained by the demands of those lighter weight classes? Does adding some weight give him the chin of Marvelous Marvin Hagler? We don’t know yet, but we’ll see. Lopez may not be the division’s most powerful hitter, but he’s a sharp puncher and will test Garcia’s jaw if they meet. As Garcia spent the days after his win calling out everyone from Gervonta Davis to Terence Crawford, even challenging Isaac Cruz to face him in December, his vanquished rival had to deal with his second loss in four fights. On September 14, Benn addressed his supporters on social media: “Everybody keeps asking ‘What’s next for Conor Benn?’ The truth is, I don’t have the answer.” Benn added that having a ring career comes at a cost. In his case, it was the
favorite in the sportsbooks at nearly 3-to-1. Benn’s reputation for being an aggressive, face-first fighter, and his having to come down in weight after fighting at junior middleweight and middleweight in recent years, meant Garcia’s quickness would be the key factor against a lunging, weight-drained fighter. And that’s how it went. “I want to unify against Teo,” Garcia said later. “I think that’s the move. It’s a huge fight. Teo is an entertaining dude. It’s gonna be a hell of a buildup. Teo is a good fighter, too. So, let’s run it.” Teo, of course, is Teofimo Lopez, the recently crowned WBA welterweight titlist. Garcia was open to a double
event on the next Cinco de Mayo boxing card, featuring himself against Lopez co- featured with David Benavidez against Jai Opetaia. “I think it’ll break the internet,” Garcia said. Of course, there’s almost always controversy when Garcia fights, and this time it came in the form of his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, whose contract with Garcia is nearly up. Tellingly, the head of Golden Boy Promotions didn’t attend the fight. There was some post-fight talk about an unsatisfactory seating arrangement and whether De La Hoya had actually been invited. As is usually the case with promoters and their fighters, there were two sides
to the story. Garcia had hoped De La Hoya would walk to the ring with him. “I thought that was going to be iconic,” Garcia said. Yet a representative for De La Hoya claimed he had planned to attend but was called on the morning of the fight and told to not bother. Regardless, the no-show of De La Hoya symbolized what has been a tetchy, deeply strained relationship between Garcia and his longtime promoter. Whether De La Hoya and Garcia ever get together and make nice doesn’t matter much. Garcia has one more bout under the Golden Boy umbrella, and then he’s a free man. An obligation to fight once more for Turki Alalshikh can
be fulfilled on the same night, Garcia believes, and then he’ll be off on his next venture: King Ry Promotions. Garcia certainly has the moxie to become his own promoter, but he may find there’s more to it than just wacky posts on Instagram. Free agency or collaborating with other promoters on a per-fight basis might be the best route for him now, rather than attempting to become a mogul. Also concerning was Garcia’s revelation on The Ariel Helwani Show that he punched out “a homie” in a hotel room after the fight. Maybe his new maturity has a limit, but a hotel fight wasn’t a good look for the
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