Garcia Stops Benn in Two to Take WBC Welterweight Title

Ryan Garcia needed little time. He stopped Conor Benn in the second round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, keeping his WBC welterweight title with a swift finish.

A right hand ends it inside two rounds

Benn pressed forward from the opening bell, looking to close the gap and throw combinations. Garcia boxed from range, used his reach, and walked the challenger onto left hands. A left hook and a right uppercut settled the first round in his favour.

Early in the second, Garcia landed a counter left and then a flush right hand. Benn crashed to the canvas. He beat the count, but his balance was gone.

Garcia pinned him against the ropes and unloaded heavy shots. Referee Thomas Taylor waved it off at 1:25 of the second round, with Benn no longer fighting back. Garcia had promised five rounds and needed fewer than two.

A first defence built on the right hand

The result was Garcia's first defence of the WBC welterweight title he had won from Mario Barrios. The right hand, once a secondary weapon behind his trademark left hook, again proved the difference, just as it had against Barrios.

Benn arrived on a two-fight winning streak, in only his second bout under the Zuffa Boxing banner after leaving Matchroom. He had outpointed Regis Prograis on his debut, and had built his name across two Fight of the Year battles with Chris Eubank Jr. Against Garcia, he had no answer for the champion's timing.

The right hand has become central to Garcia's work. "I've always had a right hand, but I always had injuries," Garcia told reporters afterwards.

In the ring, Garcia called out Teofimo Lopez. The title stays with him, and the search for a bigger name begins.