Boxing: Ryan Garcia good for boxing but a liability – Conor Benn

Benn’s fight on Saturday will be his first since leaving lifelong promoter Matchroom, who signed a one-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing in February.

Zuffa Boxing is backed by UFC chief Dana White and the Saudi Arabian capital.

White’s ultimate goal is to sideline the four traditional sanctioning bodies (WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA) and make Zuffa’s belt the leading world title alongside the Ring Magazine title held by Saudi boxer Turki Alalshikh.

It remains unclear what Benn’s future will be beyond his deal with Zuffa Boxing, but his desire to win a world title, just as his father Nigel did in the 1990s, remains strong.

Benn has many ways to discover whether he can defeat Prograis; Rolando Romero holds the WBA title, Lewis Crocker holds the IBF belt and Devin Haney is the reigning WBO champion.

But Garcia, whose unpredictability Benn admires, remains the Briton’s number one target.

“You don’t know who’s coming — you don’t know if Garcia’s going to come,” Benn said.

“You don’t know if he’s going to fight or not, you’re going to have some kind of incident, you just don’t know.

“People don’t want to be who they are in the sport of boxing, so I like to see a young man come under fire for being who he is.

“At least you’re honest with yourself and who you are. Whether I like you or not—I don’t love you—but some people do, just be who you are.”