{"id":887822,"date":"2026-09-11T06:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887822\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T06:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:32:12","slug":"boxing-2026-ryan-garcia-fires-back-at-liam-paro-after-teofimo-lopez-pranks-conor-benn-at-press-conference-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887822\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing 2026: Ryan Garcia fires back at Liam Paro after Teofimo Lopez pranks Conor Benn at press conference, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Garcia\u2019s final press conference with Conor Benn was gatecrashed by a world champion in disguise \u2013 before the American took another swipe at Australia\u2019s Liam Paro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Everything was running relatively smoothly ahead of Saturday\u2019s WBC welterweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when a bearded reporter introduced himself as DAZN\u2019s \u201cJack Hoffman\u201d.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

The mystery man first turned his attention to Benn.<\/p>\n

\u201cConor, you had a hair transplant in the past. What do you think of mine?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolid, from what I can see,\u201d Benn replied. \u201cIt\u2019s impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then asked Garcia whether he considered himself the face of boxing, prompting the WBC champion to name the man he believes he must beat next.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes. I have to beat Teofimo first,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

With that, the reporter ripped away his fake beard and wig to reveal newly crowned WBA welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez.<\/p>\n

Garcia immediately broke into a smile and lifted his WBC belt, while Benn also appeared delighted by the surprise arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up, baby? I\u2019m here. I\u2019m here, motherf***ers,\u201d Lopez declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s do it,\u201d Garcia responded.<\/p>\n

Lopez became a three-division world champion last month when he defeated Rolly Romero to capture the WBA welterweight crown.<\/p>\n

The American has made no secret of his desire to face the winner of Garcia-Benn, raising the prospect of a blockbuster showdown in 2027.<\/p>\n

However, another world champ also has his sights set on both men.<\/p>\n

IBF titleholder Paro recently fired back at Garcia after being told he was merely \u201crenting\u201d his belt.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m so easy, let\u2019s unify next,\u201d Paro wrote on social media. \u201cCome get it, bitch!\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked at Friday\u2019s press conference whether he had a response for the plucky Queenslander, Garcia again dismissed Paro\u2019s standing among the top welterweights.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not really,\u201d Garcia told fight reporter Jai McAllister.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to fight somebody. He has to give up that belt sooner or later. He\u2019s gatekeeping it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows he\u2019s not at our level. We will see who he chooses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants Teofimo because he feels like he can beat him. He can\u2019t beat me. He\u2019s definitely not beating Haney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopex and Liam ParoSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

And Paro may not have to wait long to reveal his next move, teasing an imminent announcement on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cFight news dropping soon,\u201d Paro wrote on Instagram last week.<\/p>\n

Exactly who he will face remains to be seen, but Paro has made it clear he has no interest in sitting around polishing his belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to sit on the sidelines,\u201d Paro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a busy champion, defend it against a top 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who yet, but it\u2019ll most likely be in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mundine’s beautiful tribute to dad | 01:20<\/p>\n

Paro will not be the only Aussie watching closely, with cruiserweight superstar Jai Opetaia also featuring on the card.<\/p>\n

Opetaia will defend his world title against Noel Mikaelian in the co-main event.<\/p>\n

First, though, Garcia must get through Benn \u2013 who can blow up the American\u2019s grand plans and put himself at the centre of the welterweight title picture.<\/p>\n

Parts of this story first appeared on DAZN News<\/a> and have been republished with permission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Garcia\u2019s final press conference with Conor Benn was gatecrashed by a world champion in disguise \u2013 before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-887822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}