A bizarre spectacle unfolded during Thursday’s media session in Las Vegas when WBA ‘Super’ welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez donned a facial disguise under the alias ‘Jack Hoffman’ to interrogate the headliners from the audience. This surreal moment occurred amidst an aggressive verbal clash between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn prior to Saturday’s WBC welterweight title showdown. The reigning champion Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), who captured his crown from Mario Barrios in February, is making his initial title defense. Meanwhile, his opponent Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) enters the most daunting match of his career, bolstered by an April triumph over Regis Prograis alongside a successful rematch against Chris Eubank Jr.
For the 29-year-old British challenger, Saturday represents his inaugural world championship opportunity and a major drop down to the 10st 7lb division, where he last competed against Chris van Heerden in April 2022 following two middleweight clashes with Eubank Jr. Benn dismissed any anxieties regarding the occasion or his rival’s antics. “I’m not concerned,” declared Benn. “I don’t focus on him and what he does, I focus on what I do. I bring tenacity, ferocity, spite, experience. I’ve been here before, I’ve fought in front of 70,000 three times now, on the bounce. So you know I’m here to come and really set the tone from the first round.” He also issued a firm warning directly to his foe: “Just don’t cuddle me in here. I didn’t come all the way to America for you to cuddle,”
Throughout the media gathering, Garcia relentlessly targeted the Englishman’s physical condition, claiming his rival was struggling to shrink down to the required weight limit. “I know you’re not on weight, because I can see it in your eyes. You ain’t on weight,” asserted Garcia. He further prodded his opponent: “Hey, you’re going to hit that bathtub tonight, or the bike.” In response, Benn suggested that the American should “worry about himself” before adding, “He seems to have enough problems as it is,” The challenger remained unflustered about Friday’s weigh-in procedures, stating, “I don’t look at him, I just worry about myself and don’t cut corners. We’ll see who makes weight tomorrow.”
Tensions escalated further when Garcia reacted fiercely to perceived slights regarding his Mexican
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