LONDON — After unanimously outpointing Regis Prograis on Saturday, the biggest fight for Conor Benn is now against Ryan Garcia.
Welterweight contender Benn (25-1, 14 KOs), 29, had a lot to live up to in the non-title contest with Prograis (30-4, 24 KOs) in front of approximately 60,000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, following his decision to switch promoters from Matchroom to Zuffa Boxing in a lucrative deal.
Was it worthy of his reported $15 million payday? Benn could not produce a knockout to seal a dominant performance to give real value for money but he only dropped two rounds and the win still boosts his hopes of fighting for a world welterweight title by the end of the year.
Just like Tyson Fury’s comeback win over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Benn’s UD victory over former junior welterweight champion Prograis was a stepping stone to something bigger.
While Fury eyes a potential megafight against fellow former champion Anthony Joshua, Benn is targeting only the biggest names at welterweight with American Garcia top of his wish list.
Benn, who is based in Essex, described it as “the best decision for my career” to leave Matchroom for Zuffa and face Prograis in a non-title, ten-round bout three pounds over the welterweight limit.
Prograis, 37, from New Orleans but based in Las Vegas, earlier this week denied he was suffering from an injury sustained in training but the American’s movement seemed limited and prevented him from applying sustained pressure.
After losing the WBC junior welterweight title to Devin Haney on points in 2023, this was Prograis’s third defeat in four fights to send him into retirement.
Benn is now a free agent after the one-fight deal, although Zuffa is expected to be the frontrunner to work with him again. The biggest of them all for Zuffa and Benn would be Garcia. Benn is desperate to fight for his first world title and ideally for the WBC belt, which his father Nigel held in the at super middleweight from 1992 to 1995.
Garcia appeared to welcome the encounter on social media, saying: “I’m down. Garcia vs. Benn. Let’s do it.”
Like Benn, Garcia is boisterous and there will be enough trash talk dished up to ensure viewing figures make it one of the most-watched boxing events this year, potentially on Netflix.
Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), 27, from Los Angeles, won the WBC belt with a UD points win over Mario Barrios in February and his hand speed will make it Benn’s toughest test yet, even if jumping two weight classes to face English rival Eubank was pretty a formidable task.
WBO champion and ESPN’s No. 1 welterweight Devin Haney (33-0-1 NC, 15 KOs), Brian Norman (28-1, 22 KOs), who lost to Haney on points in November, and WBA champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) are other candidates to face Benn, who is commercially attractive to Zuffa for his drawing power in the U.K. with his last three fights held in front of huge gates at outdoor stadiums in London.
Romero produced an upset when he unanimously outpointed Garcia at Times Square almost a year ago, and has recently been linked with a title unification fight vs. Haney.
Lewis Crocker, who holds the IBF belt, is promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom so seems unlikely to face Benn now.
Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), the WBO junior welterweight champion, is another option but the American’s slick skills and movement would be difficult puzzle for Benn and a surprising choice by Zuffa given their investment in the English boxer.
But a fight vs. Garcia, who has nearly 13 million followers on social media, has the potential to appeal beyond hardcore boxing fans and will surely be Zuffa’s No. 1 priority.
Whoever Benn faces next — Garcia, Romero, Haney or Teofimo Lopez are the best bets — the English boxer can expect a harder fight than Prograis could muster.
The catchweight limit of 150 pounds (three pounds above the welterweight limit) was the lowest Benn had fought at since 2022, following two fights at middleweight vs. Chris Eubank Jr. and a ban following a positive drugs test.
There were some concerns Benn would be diminished by reducing weight, but he showed unrelenting workrate and a crisp jab in the first half of the fight.
It was messy at times — Benn got caught too much leaping into punches by southpaw Prograis.
Benn finished the fight cut around both eyes, but his workrate and aggression ensured the decision was never in doubt (98-92 on all three scorecards).
