Benn, who was suspended for failed performance-enhancing drug tests and couldn't fight in his home country of England, beat Peter Dobson on points in his Las Vegas debut in February 2024. A small crowd attended at The Cosmopolitan, a few properties up “The Strip” from where he’ll challenge Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight title Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The spotlight will be far brighter against Garcia, one of boxing’s biggest stars in the United States. Benn will fight for another eight-figure purse, his second since he left longtime promoter Eddie Hearn in February for Zuffa Boxing, fronted by UFC president and CEO Dana White.

Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), of Victorville, California, is favored to beat Benn, and not just based on ability and resume.

Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) has had to squeeze his body down to the welterweight limit of 147 pounds for the first time since April 2022. It’s been an excruciating experience according to the son of one of Great Britain’s best boxers, former WBC super middleweight and WBO middleweight champ Nigel Benn.

Conor Benn believes the physical sacrifices he has made the past few months will be worthwhile, however, “when” he joins his father as a WBC champ.

The picks are in from The Ring’s Mike Coppinger. Think you can beat him? Predict winners for prizes.

Garcia: “[Benn is] a walking contradiction. At one point he’s saying that he’s OK and he has no excuses for the 147 [contract weight]. The next interview he’s saying this is like hell, that he’s been dragged down and that this weight cut is so hard he can’t even make 154 his next fight – he’ll be at 160 or 168. He can’t even believe in his own words.

“We can’t trust this guy. He once said that Eddie Hearn helped him while he was depressed, had no money, he was going through the [PED] scandals, he was crying and that man helped him. And he said he would never leave him. The moment money came hanging down, ‘Hey, look at this little carrot,’ he went and bit that s--- and forgot about all that other s---. He’s a walking contradiction. This dude’s a joke. I don’t believe s--- he says.”

Benn: “I don’t really wanna be a superstar, I just wanna be a fighter. I just wanna entertain the public, give people memories, moments for their family, their childhood, where they go, ‘Do you remember we stayed up till 3 a.m. and we watched the Conor Benn fight? Or when we watched the Eubank fight?’ For me, that’s legacy.

“I watched Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti the other day. I didn’t even know they were all 10-rounders. They were just 10-rounders, no titles on the line. But people remember Gatti for them Micky Ward fights. For me, it’s just about giving people value for money and wanting to entertain for as long as I’m here, because I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time.”

Garcia (-330) is more than a 3-1 favorite to beat Benn (+250), according to odds posted on DraftKings’ website Friday.

The odds are closer on Garcia to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification (-105) than on him winning by unanimous, split, majority or technical decision (+240). Benn is at +500 to win by KO, TKO or DQ and +650 to win by any type of decision.

The widest odds are on their bout resulting in a draw (+1600). The over/under on the total number of rounds is 9½, at -115.

Australia’s Jai Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) will defend his Ring cruiserweight title against Armenia’s Noel Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs), the WBC champ, in the co-feature. Mikaelian is The Ring’s No. 5 cruiserweight contender, but Opetaia is at least a 13-1 favorite, according to most sportsbooks.

In the bout before Opetaia-Mikaelian, Las Vegas’ Andres Cortes (25-0, 13 KOs) and the Philippines’ Mark Magsayo (29-2, 19 KOs) will square off in a high-stakes, 10-round lightweight fight.

The preliminary portion of the undercard will feature a 10-round bout between Alexis Rocha (26-2-1, 16 KOs), The Ring’s No. 9 welterweight contender, and former WBC/WBO 140-pound champ Jose Ramirez (29-3, 18 KOs).

T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Subscribers to Paramount+ can watch it for no extra charge in the United States, where the main card is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT). DAZN Ultimate subscribers can also view it free of an additional fee in the UK and Ireland, starting at 1 a.m. BST. DAZN will also offer it via pay-per-view for non-subscribers in the UK and Ireland (£24.99).

How do Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn win? What would it mean?