Former undisputed champion Josh Taylor has given his view on Conor Benn‘s loss to Ryan Garcia.
Benn stepped up to his maiden world title fight this past weekend, and to a level he has never been at before. Despite coming out of the blocks fast and immediately throwing plenty of punches, he was rough and ready and soon began getting caught by Garcia.
Early in the second round, he was caught flush with a swift right hand and crumpled to the canvas. Though he beat the count, he quickly found himself pinned to the ropes and was not throwing back so the referees stepped in to stop the fight.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Taylor was brutally honest with his assessment of Benn, who had to make a brutal weight cut to get back down to the 147 lbs limit for the first time since 2022.
“It’s something that I expected really. I’ve said it long enough and I’ve said it numerous times. I don’t think Conor Benn is anywhere near world level. I know it sounds critical of him but him saying what I think. I think he’s domestic, European level at best. And I’ve said it for long enough.
He’s getting these fights and these opportunities because of the pull that he’s got, he’s got commercial pull so he’s getting a lot of these opportunities off the back of that. I knew that was going to happen last night. I actually said within the first six, I didn’t know it would be as quick as that.”
Benn has already said before the fight he would move back up in weight, as he looks to rebuild his career following the loss to Garcia.
