Benn posted a video on social media that indicated he weighed 178.4 pounds when he stepped on a digital scale in his hotel suite at MGM Grand. He wore a T-shirt and sweatpants when he got on his personal scale.

Still, that’s an astounding 32.4 pounds more than Benn weighed when he stood on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at an official weigh-in Friday morning for his 12-round, 147-pound championship clash with Ryan Garcia on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The unusual weight gain technically made Benn a cruiserweight, five divisions above where he’ll challenge Garcia for his WBC welterweight title.

England’s Benn weighed 146 pounds for their bout, slightly more than Garcia, who came in at 145½ for his first defense of a WBC belt he won from Mario Barrios on February 21 at T-Mobile Arena. Benn’s weight was his lowest since he came in at 146 for his second-round stoppage of Jussi Koivula in June 2019 in London.

There was no restriction in his contract for how much weight Benn could gain between the official weigh-in and the time he steps into the ring for his fight against Garcia. Their ring walks are tentatively scheduled to start at 7:50 p.m. PT Saturday and 3:50 a.m. BST Sunday in the UK.

Garcia, 28, hasn’t revealed how much weight he gained since their weigh-in. It is highly unlikely that he’ll come close to matching the 5-foot-8 Benn’s weight for a main event Paramount+ will stream to subscribers in the United States and DAZN will offer to subscribers of its Ultimate plan and on pay-per-view in the UK and Ireland.

Gaining so much weight won’t help Benn’s cause when it comes to dealing with the taller Garcia’s superior speed. Benn believes, however, that wearing eight-ounce gloves, standard for bouts contested at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds and lower, will favor him.

DraftKings lists Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC), of Victorville, California, as more than a 3-1 favorite over Benn (25-1, 14 KOs). Even if Benn beats Garcia, he told The Ring he intends to move back up to at least the middleweight division for his following fight.

Benn, 29, is just two fights removed from weighing in at a career-high 159¼ pounds for his 12-round middleweight rematch versus rival Chris Eubank Jr. He beat Eubank by unanimous decision in their second fight and avenged his lone loss in the main event of a Ring card November 15 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Benn officially weighed 149½ pounds for his last bout – a 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat of Regis Prograis on April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.