Promoter Eddie Hearn says Turki Alalshikh is interested in a fight between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn on Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 5, 2026, in Las Vegas.
Turki’s Cinco de Mayo Vision
The Garcia-Benn scenario will only play out if Ryan (24-2, 20 KOs) is victorious in his title challenge against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on February 21, 2026. Understandably, Turki wants Ryan vs. Benn fight, not the Barrios-Conor clash.
Haney Left Out in the Cold
The loser out of all of this is Devin Haney, who still clings to his dream of getting a lucrative rematch with Ryan next in 2026 to avenge his loss from April 2024.
“[Turki Alalshikh] wants to see Conor fight Ryan Garcia on Cinco De Mayo [May 5 weekend] in Las Vegas,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to TalkSport.
Ryan vs. Benn is the mega-fight, the one that the boxing public would be far more interested in seeing than a bout involving Barrios and Conor.
Haney recently won the WBO welterweight title on November 22nd, and he wants a unification match with Garcia if he captures the WBC 147-lb title. Devin fighting Ryan on Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2026 would mean a bigger purse for him. So, he won’t be happy to see Kingry facing Conor Benn on that holiday instead of him.
Ryan-Benn = Global Box Office
The cold, hard reality is that Benn is a star in the UK, and Ryan is massively popular in the U.S. It’s the perfect fight that sells worldwide. In contrast, Haney isn’t popular and has an ugly, non-crowd-pleasing fighting style. He’s more of a fighter who is useful to play the villain role for fights, but that’s about it. His career is still floating along, but his fights are not interesting to the public.
Earlier this week, the WBC elevated Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) to the #1 mandatory for the 147-lb belt held by Mario Barrios, putting him next in line for the winner of the Barrios-Ryan fight.