‘King Ry’ Ryan Garcia Annihilates Conor ‘The Destroyer’ Benn

Ryan Garcia defeated Conor Benn (25-2, 14 KOs) by a second-round TKO on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Zuffa Boxing card streamed on Paramount+.

Garcia dropped Benn with an overhand right in the second. Benn beat referee Thomas Taylor’s count, but Garcia trapped him against the ropes and continued landing until Taylor stopped the fight at 1:25. Benn protested the decision, although he was badly hurt and offering little in return when the referee intervened.

The win gave Garcia a successful first defense of his WBC welterweight title.

In the co-feature, Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) stopped Noel Mikaelian (28-4, 12 KOs) at 1:30 of the ninth round. Opetaia’s Ring and Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight titles were at stake, while Mikaelian’s WBC belt was not part of the contest.

Opetaia controlled much of the action with his southpaw jab and higher output. Mikaelian rocked him with a right hand in the seventh, but the Australian recovered and regained command. A heavy combination hurt Mikaelian in the ninth, and referee Harvey Dock stopped the contest as Opetaia continued landing. Mikaelian did not object.

Andres Cortes (26-0, 13 KOs) defeated former WBC featherweight champion Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo (29-3, 19 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 10-round lightweight bout. All three judges scored it 97-93. Cortes used his strength and steady jab to control long portions of the fight before outboxing Magsayo over the closing rounds.

Alexis Rocha (27-2-1, 16 KOs) defeated former unified light welterweight champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-4, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision over 10 welterweight rounds. Rocha dropped Ramirez in the ninth, helping him earn scores of 98-91, 98-91, and 97-92. Several rounds were more competitive than the wide cards indicated.

Heavyweight Da’Mazion “Mazi” Vanhouter (13-0, 10 KOs) knocked out Raphael Akpejiori (19-4, 18 KOs) in the first round of their scheduled eight-round bout. Vanhouter dropped Akpejiori early and then knocked him out near a corner, forcing referee Robert Hoyle to end the fight at 1:58.

Abel “El Jefe” Gonzalez (9-0, 6 KOs) recovered from a first-round knockdown to defeat Raul Salomon (16-5-1, 14 KOs) by unanimous decision in their eight-round super middleweight contest. Gonzalez took an eight-count from Hoyle before recovering to win by three identical scores of 77-74.

Vlad “Super Bad” Panin (25-2, 17 KOs) stopped Dakota “Lone Wolf” Linger (17-8-3, 13 KOs) at 1:22 of the fourth round in a scheduled six-round junior middleweight fight. Panin hurt Linger with body punches before a sustained combination brought Thomas Taylor’s intervention.

Oswaldo “Pitufo” Molina (10-0, 4 KOs) handed Pablo “Shark” Rubio Jr. (15-1, 5 KOs) his first professional defeat by unanimous decision over six lightweight rounds. The scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55.

Sean “Sugar Rush” Garcia (8-1-1, 2 KOs) defeated Abraham Morales (4-2, 2 KOs) by majority decision in their six-round lightweight bout. Garcia dropped Morales in the third but lost a point for holding in the fifth. Two judges scored it 58-54 for Garcia, while the third had it 56-56.