Ryan Garcia just recently joined Piers Morgan to discuss his upcoming title defense against Conor Benn this weekend and a whole lot more. Looking ahead to the fight itself, Garcia explains why Benn is in over his head in this fight, and also touches on his upbringing, personal troubles, and coming through to become a world champion and being in a great place in his life. Check out some of what he had to say below with the full video interview in the link at the bottom.
Garcia on the recent past where he appeared to be spiraling in his personal life
“I think back then it may look
like everything was good and dandy but in reality a lot of people never given me credit for what I’ve done in the sport. So, I don’t really think that’s really the right perspective at the time, of how people viewed me, but I would say the amount of pressure and everything I’ve had to deal with since I started boxing I think came to a boiling point and I was pretty frustrated and had a lot of anger was built up. I think it came with a lot of struggles, drinking, mental health issues. But that’s just the story of 2024.
“It takes a lot of inner reflection to understand what really went down and to do just find that balance again, and I did that and I captured a world title shortly after that. So, it’s just a learning experience and don’t let anything slow you down from moving forward.”
On the difference between Benn and himself
“Here’s the thing, there’s people that are original and I’m an original person. He’s obviously taking things from so many different quotes and people that it’s kind of just fabricated. I’ve done this. I’ve been boxing since I was seven years old, I’ve captured 15 national titles, I’ve fought way more professional fights. There’s no way you would get to this point without hard work.
“At the end of the day…his dad is the only reason he’s at this point in his career. So I’m really getting paid a bunch of money to beat up a beginner. This dude is not on my level, he’s a jokester, and he’s banking that supposedly I don’t work hard, which everybody says. It’s kind of boring at this point, the narrative is just — bro, come up with something else.”
On having the edge over Benn who’s coming back to 147
“He only went up to 160 to fight Chris Eubank so he’s really a 147 pounder. He’s just looking to make excuses already because he knows what’s going to happen.”
On his feelings about Terence Crawford
“I despise him…He’s a little bit of a hater. He doesn’t like my success. He hate-watches my fights, him and his little crew, Shakur — they don’t like how successful I am, they don’t think I deserve it or whatever they think. But they definitely watch with hate and if they dish it out they should be able to take it.
“If he ever wants to come back and fight, let’s do it. We can talk all we want but I just feel like he’s retired, he should shut the hell up. Why are you talking if you’re retired?…Leave us alone unless you want to fight. If not, shut up.”
On expecting a KO of Benn
“I am extremely confident. The preparation is what makes me so confident. I prepared amazingly and I’m just better at the game than him, and that’s just simple. He’s going to be game, can’t deny that, he’s going to be coming at me nonstop, but I’m just a little bit more skillful than him and now I’m super conditioned so he’s going to have a bad night.
“This won’t go past five. It’ll be five and below, is what I’m calling.”
