Garcia-Benn Preview

 On August 22nd, Teofimo Lopez emerged victorious in becoming a three-division world champion when he scored a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over WBA World Welterweight champion Rolando Romero at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. It was that fight that this observer speculated prior to it taking place, could have been the unofficial start of a four-boxer box-off as there was another world title fight that would take place in the same venue a few short weeks after Lopez ultimately defeated Romero. The second bout will be for the WBC World Welterweight championship as champion Ryan Garcia looks to make the first defense of his world title for the first time against top Welterweight contender Conor Benn in a twelve round bout that can be seen in the United States on digital subscription general entertainment network Paramount+ and internationally on digital subscription sports streaming DAZN either as a standalone pay-per-view option or included as part of a DAZN Ultimate subscription. 

What makes this fight interesting beyond it being the first title defense for Garcia, a fighter who has had some setbacks along the way in his career, but one who has evolved into one of the top stars in the sport of Boxing, is in this case he’s going against a fighter in Benn that not only has the lineage being the son of the legendary two-division world champion Nigel Benn, but Conor Benn has spent his recent fights fighting well above the 147lb. Welterweight division, having competed in two fights against Chris Eubank Jr., the son of his father’s rival Chris Eubank Sr. with those bouts taking place in the 168lb. Super-Middleweight division. Prior to those bouts, in which Benn went 1-1 against Eubank Jr., he was a career Welterweight and was on the verge of challenging for a world title before Garcia got his opportunities. The question here is after having gone up three weight classes for his last two fights, what condition will he be in after coming back down in weight for this world title opportunity.

There have been times throughout history where fighters either after having won world titles at higher weights or looking for an opportunity to challenge for a world title after competing at higher weights, have come back down in weight with not so successful results. Two notable examples this observer has thought of in recent days as I prepared to pen this column was first in February 1991, the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard  after winning world titles from the 147lb. Welterweight division to the 175lb. Light-Heavyweight division, moved down in weight after last competing in December 1989 in defense of his WBC Super-Middleweight world championship in his third fight against his longtime rival Roberto Duran, chose to take on WBC Jr. Middleweight world champion Terry Norris inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. From the opening bell, Norris administered a beating to Leonard, dropping him twice throughout the twelve round world championship bout and earning a wide unanimous decision victory to retain his title. After the fight right in the ring after the decision was announced, Leonard announced to the crowd in attendance that this would be his final fight and retired for six years before making another ill-fated combat in March 1997 when at age forty, he suffered the first knockout of his career when he was stopped in five rounds by the late great Hector “Macho” Camacho in five rounds inside the legendary Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Leonard, as he had done after the loss to Norris, retired following being stopped by Camacho, never to fight again.

A second example came in March 2003 where Roy Jones, a fighter who won world titles from the 160lb. Middleweight division to the 175lb. Light-Heavyweight division moved up to challenge WBA World Heavyweight champion John Ruiz for his world title and scored a dominant twelve round unanimous decision to become a Heavyweight world champion and in doing so, became the first former Middleweight champion to successfully move up to Heavyweight and win a world title since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1897. As historic as that accomplish was and remains, following that fight, despite Jones not really having anything else to prove and being in a position where he could have retired with an unmatched legacy, he was still a unified Light-Heavyweight world champion at the time he beat Ruiz and opted to move back down in weight to defend his title against Antonio Tarver later in 2003. Jones looked very sluggish and struggled to retain his title in a controversial decision in November 2003. The decision, that many felt should have gone Tarver’s way, fueled demand for an immediate rematch in May 2004. In that rematch, Tarver scored a second round one punch knockout of Jones, and from that point until Jones retired, having competed in his last official fight in 2023, was never the same fighter and his reflexes, punch resistance, and reaction time were clearly compromised after that knockout loss. Whether that was due to moving back down in weight after defeating Ruiz, or the effect of the knockout at the hands of Tarver in the second fight of what became a trilogy is a subject that will be debated by Boxing fans and historians such as yours truly. If one were to ask my opinion on the subject with regard to Jones, I believe it was a combination of both the drop back down in weight as well as the first of what became five knockouts Jones would go on to suffer throughout the remainder of his career that contributed to his decline.

In this case, we are talking about a fighter in Conor Benn that is a lot closer to his physical prime than either Leonard or Jones were when they opted to move back down in weight. Whether or not it will have negative physical effects in this fight or moving beyond this fight remains to be seen. The loss of mass that one puts on as they are preparing to move up in weight is something to consider as this fight approaches, though the fact that Benn is closer to his prime might be to his benefit in that his body might be able to respond better than both Leonard and Jones were as in addition to age and moving up in weight throughout their careers, both had been through their share of grueling battles, which no doubt contributed to their decline.

In terms of the fight itself, both Garcia and Benn have shown that they can do a little of everything and each have the type of explosive punching power that if they connect, they can end a fight with either hand. What this fight will come down to in my eyes is who will be able to take the initiative and whether they will be able to maintain that pace for however long the fight lasts. 

Whether or not this fight does indeed lead to a showdown later this year with the recently crowned WBA Welterweight world champion Teofimo Lopez also remains to be seen. With Lopez having put on a stellar performance a few short weeks ago, however, it will be up to Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn to take the attention off of Lopez and put it on themselves. If that translates into a great fight, even better for Boxing as a whole. 

“And That's The Boxing Truth." 

Garcia vs. Benn takes place on Saturday, September 12th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The fight as well as its full undercard can be seen in the United States on general entertainment subscription streaming network Paramount+ beginning at 4PM ET/1PM PT and will be included with a Paramount+ subscription.

For more information about Paramount+ including schedules, list of compatible devices, platforms, Smart TVs, and to subscribe please visit: www.ParamountPlus.com. 

Internationally, the card can be seen on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN either as a standalone pay-per-view option or included as part of a DAZN Ultimate subscription. For more information about DAZN including schedules,list of compatible streaming devices, platforms,Smart TVs, availability around the world, local start times and region specific pricing in your area, to subscribe or purchase this event as a standalone offering please visit: www.DAZN.com. 

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Fury-Usyk: Will The Wait Be Worth It?

In March 1999, Heavyweight champions Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis met in Madison Square Garden to unify three portions of the World Heavyweight championship. While there was the absence of the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) championship at the time, the bout was viewed as being for the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world as the crowns of the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Boxing Association (WBA), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) the three oldest sanctioning organizations in the sport, and who were the only organizations in existence the last time the World Heavyweight championship had been fully unified in 1987, were on the line. The magnitude of the event, which was also heavily promoted, being in Madison Square Garden before a massive crowd was something that also made the occasion seem special.

It did signal, or at least seemed to signal what had been a decade of political mess in the Heavyweight division. A decade, which began with Mike Tyson at the helm as the undisputed champion before losing his crown to James “Buster" Douglas in February 1990, before Douglas himself was dethroned by Evander Holyfield in October of that year, which signaled what seemed to be the beginning of a new era for the division. Two years after winning the undisputed title however, Holyfield was beaten by Riddick Bowe in November of 1992 in the first fight of what became one of the most memorable trilogies in Heavyweight history. 

Some may recall shortly after Bowe beat Holyfield in 1992, the politics of the sport reared its head when the champion, who was contractually obligated to defend his title against Lennox Lewis, who at the time was an unbeaten number one contender recognized by the WBC, refused to honor his commitment and disgracefully threw the WBC championship in a trash can in public. There may be no one in Boxing who has more frequently and objectively pointed out the flaws of the various sanctioning organizations and the politics that be in the sport more than this observer over the many years I have covered the sport. Nevertheless, Bowe’s actions, disgraceful as it was in disrespecting both the label of “Heavyweight Champion Of The World," as well as the sport by doing that set in motion several years of several fighters holding claim to world titles, partial unification bouts, and yes more fighters being stripped of their titles for among other things refusing to honor their obligations in defending their titles against mandatory challengers.

In that sense, I really wanted to believe that Holyfield-Lewis would signal a return to normalcy in the division that hopefully would follow in the sport’s other divisions as well. Unfortunately, that night, March 13, 1999 will forever be remembered for a controversial decision in a fight that most, including this observer, felt that Lewis dominated, was shockingly declared a draw at the conclusion of the twelve round bout. As most know, there would be a rematch in November of that year, and despite the second encounter between the two being more competitive, Lewis would emerge victorious in successfully unifying three of four world titles in the division and gaining with it, undisputed status. 

Though it would have appeared that there was conclusion to the mess, almost immediately after defeating Holyfield in the second fight, Lewis was stripped of the WBA version of the World Heavyweight championship for refusing to fulfill his mandatory defense obligation in fighting then WBA number one contender John Ruiz, and though there have been several unification bouts in the years since where several fighters have been able to hold unified portions of the championship amongst Boxing's five world sanctioning organizations, there has not been a recognized undisputed world champion in the division in nearly twenty-five years. 

On May 18th, the Boxing world will focus on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where undefeated Heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will finally meet for the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world. A bout that will truly be “Undisputed” as it will be the first time in history that all five world organizations’ respective world championships will be on the line and can be seen on DAZN Pay-Per-View.  As there always seems to be in Boxing, the road to this encounter has not been straightforward. For there was what turned out to be an ill-advised non-title bout between the WBC champion Fury and former UFC Heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou. A fight where despite the significant experience advantage of the boxer Fury over the MMA fighter Ngannou, Fury showed up to that fight, in the same location as this fight will take place, out of shape and treating the bout very lightly. The mentality nearly cost Fury his unbeaten record in a fight that proved to be more competitive where he was knocked down by Ngannou, Fury emerged with a ten round split decision victory in a fight that many observers, including this one, felt he lost. 

While it was tempting to say the decision in that fight may had been influenced by the fact that this fight had been signed for February of this year prior to Fury's bout with Ngannou, the two-time world champion Fury did a disservice both to himself and arguably the sport in the way he approached that fight. As for the scheduled February date for Fury-Usyk, obviously by virtue of the title of this column, it was postponed due to Fury suffering a deep gash over the right eye, which was a result of an accidental elbow during a sparring session in preparation for the bout. 

Although accidents like a fighter suffering a cut in sparring are not new in combat sports, one might question Fury's condition going into this fight now three months later from the original date. Furthermore, despite the significance of the bout and everything in the Heavyweight division being on the line, Fury did not leave the best impression coming out of a fight against a Boxing novice in Ngannou, which because of both his overall experience level and standing in the sport, he was expected to outclass Ngannou.

Fury will have a height advantage of nearly seven inches over the 6’3 Oleksandr Usyk and is the natural Heavyweight in facing the former Undisputed Cruiserweight world champion. It is logical to think that Fury, who tends to have weight fluctuations between fights and weighed-in at nearly 278lbs. for his fight with Ngannou, will try to come in with a significant weight advantage over the unified WBO/IBF/IBO/WBA world champion Usyk and look to put that weight on the shorter fighter as the fight progresses. 

The interesting aspect about this fight that I personally cannot distinguish an edge between the two having covered both throughout their careers, beyond the natural height and size advantage Fury has is who will have the edge at least on paper in terms of the approach. Both fighters are known for their ability to be elusive, both are highly skilled boxers, can at times be awkward, and both can get an opponent out of there if given the opportunity. 

If Usyk, who has not had the easiest time dealing with some opponents since he became a Heavyweight in October 2019, can deal with the size disadvantages that he will have in front of him, he might have a slight edge when it comes to hand speed. Though it is logical to think he will try to target the right eye of Fury to in theory gain a further advantage, the answer as to who might win this fight might be determined by whether Usyk will be able to avoid Fury's weight being put on him and whether he will be able to take Fury's punching power. Despite the fact that Tyson Fury has been knocked down several times throughout his career, conventional wisdom suggests that Usyk's best chance to win this fight will be to try and out box Fury to win a decision. Of course, this is under the assumption that the right eye of Fury will not become a factor over the course of the fight. 

As historic as this fight is, the various political elements that be in the sport may also play a role in determining just how long there is one fully undisputed world champion in the Heavyweight division, assuming a winner is determined between Fury and Usyk and the fight is not declared a draw. This is due to there being an immediate rematch clause for this fight being in place and the International Boxing Federation already announcing that the winner of this fight must face it's number one contender in the unbeaten Filip Hrgovic following this fight or they will be stripped of the IBF crown, which would obviously break up the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world if that were to happen. 

While there is also the possibility that a rematch clause will not be exercised by the losing party in this fight, there will likely be much more to say and follow coming out of this regardless of the outcome. As this observer prepares to cover his third fight that will hopefully unify the Heavyweight division and the fourth time an Undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world has been determined by way of unification in my lifetime, I sincerely hope it will not take another twenty-five years before there is one full undisputed champion in the division and the holder of that crown will be determined in the ring and not by contracts and/or failing to meet one's obligations to defend against mandatory challengers. At some point progress is only as good as long as it lasts long-term and Boxing is no exception to that principle. 

“And That's The Boxing Truth.”

Fury vs. Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world takes place on Saturday, May 18th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight as well as its full undercard can be seen on a pay-per-view basis globally on DAZN Pay-Per-View beginning at 10AM ET/ 7AM PT for $69.99. For more information on this pay-per-view event, including pricing in your country, local start times in your area, and to subscribe to DAZN please visit: www.DAZN.com. 

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