Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan has named one half of the main event between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn as the “dangerman” at 147lbs.

The two welterweights will collide at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.

He claimed the belt by dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory in February, which followed his surprising points loss to Rolando Romero in May 2025.

Interestingly enough, this defeat came shortly after his year-long doping ban, which he served on account of testing positive for ostarine ahead of his majority decision victory over Devin Haney.

The result of their showdown was then ruled a no-contest, with Garcia subsequently moving up to welterweight after failing to keep below the 140lb limit.

It now seems the 27-year-old is competing at a more natural weight while Benn, who tested positive for clomifene in 2022, has not made 147lbs since his second-round finish over Chris van Heerden that same year.

Speaking with talkSPORTIrish boxing icon McGuigan suggested that this – as well as the 29-year-old’s technical flaws – could prove a major factor against Garcia.

“[Benn’s] got that genetic code from his dad, and he’s got that explosiveness and everything else. But he is predictable – you can see when he’s going to throw.

“You ask yourself: is Garcia just a little bit too sharp for him? A little bit too cute. I think Garcia’s finally found the weight he’s most suitable [for]. I think he’s a dangerman at 147[lbs].

“Maybe Conor Benn has left it a little too late to make 147[lbs] again. I think that could be his Achilles’ heel. I make Garcia a slight favourite but would never write off Conor Benn – he’s got that fighting heart.”

Benn comes off a unanimous decision victory over Regis Prograis in April, which followed his two middleweight encounters with Chris Eubank Jr last year.

Devin Haney’s immediate future has been thrown into uncertainty after Keyshawn Davis pulled out of their mandated contest on Friday.

The pair had been ordered to collide for Haney’s WBO world title, with Davis having been named as the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger at 147lbs.

Multiple reports then suggested that the 27-year-old was offered $3m by Top Rank, his promoter, only for ‘The Businessman’ to reject what would have been a career-high payday.

Subsequently, their bout went to a purse bit hearing, where Top Rank trumped Teofimo Lopez’s Takeover Promotions with a sum of $8,550,000.

This therefore gave Bob Arum’s outfit the promotional rights and, as per the usual 75/25 split in favour of the defending champion, Davis would have been entitled to a share of $2,137,500.

Since Thursday’s auction, though, Davis has excluded himself from the fight and left Haney without an obvious opponent for his first welterweight title defence.

Taking to social mediaWBO president Gustavo Olivieri explained that his organisation must now provide their champion with a solution.

“The WBO hereby confirms receipt of written notice from counsel on behalf of Keyshawn Davis advising that he will NOT accept the 25% purse split adjudicated pursuant to the official WBO purse bid proceedings and, accordingly, will NOT participate in the WBO welterweight mandatory championship contest against Devin Haney.

“In light of the foregoing, the WBO Championship Committee and Ratings Committee will convene to proceed in accordance with the WBO world championship rules and regulations. The applicable ruling will be rendered and published in due course.”

Re: WBO Welterweight Participant Keyshawn Davis

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) hereby confirms receipt of written notice from counsel on behalf of Mr. Keyshawn Davis advising that he will NOT accept the 25% purse split adjudicated pursuant to the official WBO purse bid…

— Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@OlivieriLaw) July 31, 2026

At this stage, it remains to be seen whether Haney will be immediately ordered to face a new mandatory challenger or, given the situation, have the opportunity to make a voluntary defence.

Either way, the 27-year-old has not fought since dethroning Brian Norman Jr in November and is surely eager to return to action.

Terence Crawford has offered Lamont Roach some words of wisdom ahead of his vacant WBC world title clash with William Zepeda.

The sanctioning body’s two leading lightweight contenders will collide this evening, headlining a Golden Boy card in Las Vegas.

Zepeda has therefore been presented with a second stab at the WBC 135lb strap, despite coming off a unanimous decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson in July 2025.

Even against Stevenson, though, the Mexican fought at a relentless pace and proved that he represents a hard night’s work for any fighter.

Roach, on the other hand, has been accused of lacking a degree of urgency, or rather believing he is comfortably ahead on the judges’ scorecards when, really, the fight remains in the balance.

This appeared to be the case in his last outing, against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, whose sheer aggression and work rate saw him come away with a 12-round draw in December.

Prior to that, Roach boxed to a far more contentious draw against Gervonta Daviswho should have suffered a knockdown when he touched the canvas in round nine.

The fact remains, however, that Roach must elevate his punch output and intensity if he is to emerge victorious against Zepeda.

Speaking with FightHypeformer three-division undisputed champion Crawford outlined this as an area of improvement for the 30-year-old.

“It’s going to be a good fight. If Roach don’t pick up his punch count, it’s going to be a bad one [for him].”

While seemingly needing to increase his volume, Roach does have the footwork and fluidity to cause Zepeda serious problems.