Let the gamesmanship begin.
Ryan Garcia skipped a scheduled face-off with Conor Benn on Tuesday, Sept. 8 ahead of their welterweight title fight Saturday in Las Vegas.
Benn looked unhappy when he arrived at the designated site only to discover Garcia was a no-show.
“Guys, I apologize for Ryan doing what Ryan does,’’ Benn said with media gathered.
Garcia offered no apologies.
In a post on his Instagram story that appeared to show someone playing video games, Garcia wrote, “Nice relaxing time as Conor waste time showing up to a face off,’’ followed by crying laughing emojis.
Garcia also took a shot at Benn’s apparent struggle to drop weight and get down to the 147-pound maximum in time for the weigh-in Friday.
“Back to the sauna you go…’’ Garcia wrote.
Benn’s father, Nigel, offered some levity at the face-off site. He joked about whether his son would back down after Garcia blew him off. That clearly is not part of the plan.
Conor Benn said of Garcia, “He needs to get his (expletive) together because come Saturday he’s in for a real, real shock.’’
Garcia, 28, will be making his first title defense since winning the WBC welterweight championship in February with a victory over Mario Barrios by unanimous decision. Garcia is 25-2 with 20 knockouts.
Benn, a 29-year-old from Great Britain, will be looking for his first championship belt. He is 25-1 with 14 knockouts.
They’ll fight at T-Mobile Arena and are scheduled to see each other during a handful of other events – such as a press conference Thursday, Sept. 10 and the weigh-in Friday, Sept. 11 – provided Garcia bothers to show up.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Garcia blows off face-off with Conor Benn ahead of title fight
