Ryan Garcia has his sights set on Mario Barrios, but he will not let budding rival Conor Benn slip from his mind.
The 27-year-old recently signed a bout agreement to face Barrios, the WBC welterweight champion, in February 2026. Regardless, he continues to engage more with Benn, who is coming off a big win over Chris Eubank Jr.
Garcia and Benn tepidly agreed to face each other in 2026 on social media after the former’s title fight against Barrios. Garcia has not let Benn off the hook since and took it a step further on ‘The Emily Austin Show.’
“Conor Benn, for me, he still fights like an amateur in a way,” Garcia told Austin, who works as a reporter for DAZN Boxing. “His style just is made for me, is how I see it. And Conor, he wants a big fight in the US and he wants a big US name. He could come get it any time he wants. I would love to fight in the UK, possibly, and have the UK fans sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ while he walks in and go home crying.”
.@RyanGarcia on @ConorNigel calling him out 🗣️👀 pic.twitter.com/aFMnWcTXpX
— Emily Austin (@emilyraustin) November 26, 2025
The feud began when Benn mentioned Garcia’s name as one of his multiple callouts after beating Eubank. Garcia, who has never been one to let such interactions go, emphatically responded on the ‘Inside the Ring Show,’ prompting a heated back-and-forth social media exchange.
Garcia, who firmly believes in his odds against Barrios, eyes Benn as his ideal first title defense. Benn’s recent victory over Eubank came at middleweight, but he has spent the majority of his career at welterweight.
Ryan Garcia, Conor Benn’s inverse career trajectories
Conor Benn (left) throwing a jab against Chris Eubank Jr. (right) | IMAGO / Action Plus
Garcia’s “amateur” insult is the latest barb in a series of unfiltered insults between the two boxers. However, Benn is the fighter trending upward over the last few years, while Garcia has stagnated.
Although Garcia’s popularity has not wavered, the results have not been there in the ring. ‘King Ry’ gained significant traction for his fight with Devin Haney in April 2024, but what was originally a majority decision victory has since been overturned to a no-contest.
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The result leaves Garcia without an official victory since December 2023, when he stopped Oscar Duarte in the seventh round. The controversial star is just 1-2 with one no-contest in his last four fights.
Meanwhile, Benn’s dominant win over Eubank avenged the only loss of his professional career, improving his record to 24-1. His two fights with Eubank both took place at middleweight, but ‘The Destroyer’ remains a top-10 welterweight contender in the WBC and WBA rankings.
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