Boxing

Conor Benn tells Ryan Garcia after victory: “Keep my belt balmy”

Published

6 months ago

April 19, 2026

Conor Benn didn’t have to wait long. Moments after his unanimous decision victory over Regis Prograis on Saturday night, the 29-year-old Briton grabbed the microphone and turned his attention to the fighter holding the belt he wants most.

“I want the next Ryan Garcia,” Benn said in the ring on the Netflix broadcast. “Garcia, balmy my belt. September, let’s go.”

Benn, who improved to 25-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a dominant 10-round decision over the former two-time super lightweight champion, has been the WBC’s mandatory challenger to Garcia’s welterweight title for months. Saturday’s performance, while not the explosive stoppage that some predicted, was exactly the kind of victory that was intended to force the hand of the sanctioning body.

“Garcia, I want my belt, keep it balmy!” repeated Benn. “I think me and Ryan are doing the stadium. This is a monster fight!!”

Garcia responds within minutes

Garcia didn’t keep Benn waiting. Minutes after the final bell, the WBC welterweight champion posted the following statement on X: “I’m losing to GARCIA VS BENN. Let’s do it!!!!!!”

The post quickly surpassed 3.6 million views. Benn quoted Garcia’s response with his own direct message: “This belt is mine @RyanGarcia.”

The exchange was the most direct public engagement between the two fighters to date. While Benn had been calling for the fight since Garcia won the WBC title with a dominant decision over Mario Barrios in February, Garcia’s immediate and enthusiastic response marked a shift from the non-committal stance champions typically take towards mandatory challengers.

Construction was underway

Benn stepped up his rhetoric ahead of the Prograis fight. In pre-fight interviews earlier this week, he acknowledged Garcia’s attractiveness while questioning his credibility.

“I think Garcia is suitable for boxing, he has character and he is entertaining, but he is also a liability,” Benn said.

The commentary captured the tension at the heart of the potential matchup. Garcia, 27, is one of boxing’s biggest commercial attractions and a fighter whose career has been defined by both turbulence outside the ring and brilliance inside it. His path to the WBC welterweight title took place through a failed drug test, a suspension, a heavyweight loss to Efe Ajagba and years of social media controversy before Barrios’ performance finally earned him the world title his talent always promised.

Benn’s career had its share of setbacks, including a protracted doping investigation by the British Boxing Control Board and the British Anti-Doping Commission that clouded his reputation for the better part of two years. However, having competed with Eubank Jr. and a novel promotional home in Zuffa Boxing, Benn is now particularly focused on fighting for the welterweight title.

Why fighting makes sense

The commercial logic is obvious. Benn is the biggest attraction in British boxing outside the heavyweight division. Garcia is one of the most popular athletes in the world, with a social media reach that dwarfs most of his peers. A must-see title fight between these two would have a crossover feel that few welterweight bouts can match.

Benn’s mention of September and the location of the stadium suggests he sees the fight as a major UK event, possibly at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or Wembley. Garcia’s willingness to commit publicly rather than reject or ignore the call indicates at least an openness to the fight, although the distance between the enthusiastic post on X and the signed contract remains significant.

The WBC has yet to formally order a mandatory defense, but Benn’s status as the promotion’s top welterweight contender makes implementing a directive a matter of when, not if. Garcia also has options. After Barrios’ victory, he called up WBO super-lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and has a clause for an open rematch with Devin Haney, the WBO welterweight titleholder. How Garcia and his team prioritize these options over mandatory duty will determine the timeline.

What Saturday showed

Benn’s victory over Prograis wasn’t a career-defining performance, but it didn’t have to be. He controlled the tough, experienced former world champion for 10 rounds, survived a bloody stretch caused by accidental headbutts, and came back decisively in the championship rounds with body work and sustained pressure that would have tested any welterweight in the division. The score of 98-92 from all three judges indicated a player who did exactly what was expected of him without taking unnecessary risks.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

7 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley’s Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.

Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.

As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

7 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley's Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Boxing

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Published

8 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxing's Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!

Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape

“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.

“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.

“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”

On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far

“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.

“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”

On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together

“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”

On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart

“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”

On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates

“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.

“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“

On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title

“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”

On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved

“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”