Ryan Garcia is heading back to Las Vegas for his first defense as WBC welterweight champion — and this one already sounds personal.
Garcia revealed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that he will face Conor Benn on September 12 in a matchup that brings together two of boxing’s most polarizing names. The announcement immediately grabbed attention because of the tension Garcia says already exists between them.
“He’s from across the pond — his name is Conor Benn,” Garcia said during the interview. “He’s been talking a lot, he’s talking crazy.”
Garcia then pointed to an encounter between the two that happened years ago. “He actually confronted me at an awards show two years ago,” Garcia said. “My wife was there, and he pressed me, grabbed me, so it’s a little personal.”
The WBC champion added, “We’ll be ready to go. I’m going to put a whooping on this man.”
The fight comes less than a year after Garcia reinvented the conversation around his career. Earlier this year, the 27-year-old captured the first major world title of his professional run with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios in Las Vegas.
Garcia dropped Barrios almost immediately with a right hand and controlled the pace from there, mixing combinations and showing off more than just the left hook that helped build his reputation.
“Oh yeah, it was one of the ones that I wanted to show, my whole arsenal,” Garcia said after the Barrios fight. “Y’all saw my right hand working tonight.”
At the time, Garcia publicly called out Shakur Stevenson following Stevenson’s technical dismantling of Teófimo López at Madison Square Garden. Stevenson had just become a four-division champion with the win and briefly looked like Garcia’s next target.
Instead, Garcia is pivoting toward Benn, whose profile has grown considerably since signing with Zuffa Boxing earlier this year. Benn initially joined the Dana White-backed promotion on a one-fight deal before reportedly agreeing to a larger multi-fight partnership.
Benn enters the matchup with a 25-1 professional record and is still chasing his first world title opportunity. The son of former two-division champion Nigel Benn, Benn spent much of 2025 fighting above welterweight, including bouts against Chris Eubank Jr. and Regis Prograis.
The matchup also pairs two fighters who have both dealt with suspensions connected to failed drug tests during their careers — controversies that followed each of them into major comeback moments.
Garcia vs. Benn will take place the same night Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez faces Christian Mbilli in Riyadh, giving boxing fans two major cards on opposite sides of the world in a single night.
