At yesterday’s weigh-in, Conor was a full pound under, weighing 146 pounds at the commission weigh-in, which began at 9 in the morning.

Benn spoke to the media this week and talked about the difficulties of making weight: “It does feel like I’ve been through the pits of hell. It’s one of those pits of hell, and I had a fight with Satan, and God brought me back to life.”

Such a difficult weight cut can affect Conor’s performance in the ring. He may be slower, not as strong, and may run out of gas in the later rounds. Benn has seen difficult weight cuts firsthand, having fought a visibly depleted Chris Eubank Jr. in their rematch last November. Conor could suffer a similar fate against Ryan, who promises not to relent and go for blood.

“Even if he makes the weight, your brain can’t rehydrate fast enough. Them punches are going to do some real damage, and I heard his dad talk like he’s [Conor] going to knock me out. Bet you won’t, and we can bet whatever you want. Your son ain’t going to knock me out. He couldn’t even knock out Regis.”

The match against Regis Prograis was a match fought at 150 pounds, and many criticized Benn for not being more dominant against an undersized boxer who had to come up to fight at the catchweight.

In that match, Conor outlanded Regis 176 to 108 in total punches landed, stating he chose to be more technical in that match. The average landing percentage of power punches of Benn’s last seven opponents is 36.1 percent (Compubox). Increasing the probability that Garcia will land a left hook or as he demonstrated in his championship fight against Mario Barrios, a right hook instead.

Garcia is the faster, younger, and, with the weight cut, the stronger fighter. How can a fighter like Benn, with a limited amateur background and short professional experience, compete against a skillful boxer like Ryan?

The two boxers Garcia lost to were Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero, two fighters with real power behind their punches that made Ryan hesitant to engage. He did not want to trade fire with fire because of the power behind their punches. At welterweight and after a weight cut like this, Benn may not have sufficient power to deter Ryan from engaging.

In terms of overall boxing skill, Ryan holds the edge given his level of amateur experience over Conor. If he is able to land with precision and systematically break Benn down, Garcia will control the match and may potentially end it in the mid-to-late rounds by attacking the body.

Ryan has to go where Conor is weak, and that will be his body. Garcia can slow him down and make him break quicker by attacking the body from the get-go. Ryan already expects Conor to apply the pressure early, and if done strategically, he can wear him down by making him miss and land perfectly timed counters.

Garcia has been given the grand stage of boxing by headlining on Mexican Independence weekend; he must now go out and perform to expectations and defeat Benn.

Ryan Garcia makes the first defence of his WBC welterweight world title tonight when he faces Conor Benn in a major Las Vegas showdown at the T-Mobile Arena.

Garcia claimed the belt by comfortably outpointing Mario Barrios in February and now returns to the same venue looking to establish himself at the top of the 147lb division. Benn, meanwhile, challenges for a world title for the first time in his career and is back in the welterweight ranks for the first time since 2022.

The Brit has spent recent years competing at higher weights, including his two fights with Chris Eubank Jr at 160lbs, meaning his cut back down to 147lbs has been one of the biggest talking points of fight week. Both men made weight on Friday, with Benn scaling 146lbs and Garcia 145.5lbs.

Boxing News will provide live round-by-round scoring for the fight below.

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn live scorecard

This is a Boxing News live scorecard and not the official score from the judges.

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn fight result

Ryan Garcia TKO 2. Garcia’s left hook rarely missed, but Benn took them and ploughed forward. The same couldn’t be said for the American’s right hand, however, which landed flush and put Benn down. Smelling blood, Garcia jumped on the Brit and forced referee Thomas Taylor to step in and call a halt to proceedings in the second round.

A highly-anticipated showdown between David Benavidez and Jai Opetaia could now be around the corner.

The two cruiserweights have been linked to a battle against one another over the past few months, and it now could become a reality after Opetaia was victorious on Saturday.

The New Zealander claimed a ninth round stoppage win over Noel Mikaelian at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, after a dominant display which saw Opetaia win virtually every round up to that point.

Attention could now turn to a clash with three-division world champion Benavidez, after the pair were involved in a face-off in the ring and both agreeing to face each other next May.

Benavidez: “Let’s do it right here next year for Cinco De Mayo.”

Opetaia: “Done. It’s done”

Benavidez: “Respect, he’s a strong fighter but there can only be one monster. He likes war and I’m the exact same way so it will be one hell of a fight.”

Benavidez was a two-time super middleweight world champion and remains the WBC light heavyweight champion, but last time out he moved up to 200lbs and stopped Gilberto Ramirez inside six rounds to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles.

Before a potential clash with Opetaia next May can take place, Benavidez is first expected to return to action before the end of the year, with a reported battle against Michal Cieslak set to come in December.

The vacant WBC cruiserweight belt could be on the line in that contest, after the governing body didn’t sanction the belt to be on the line between Opetaia and current full WBC champion Mikaelian.