Overmatched Conor Benn destroyed in two rounds

Garcia remains 'King' with quick KO of 'The Destroyer'

Ryan Garcia crushed Briton Conor Benn with a ruthless second-round stoppage to retain his WBC welterweight crown in a world title mismatch in Las Vegas.

The American dominated from the opening bell, repeatedly punishing Benn as the 29-year-old charged forward with a wild and increasingly desperate approach.

In the opening moments, Benn was pressing forwards and copped a big left hook to the head from Garcia who was backing up and maintaining a distance.

Garcia was very mobile and fast on his feet. Benn managed to land a double jab and three-punch combination to body and head, nut it was the only success he would find.

He smiled at Garcia after the end of the first round, clearly satisfied with his work, but all three judges scored the opener to the champion.

In round two, Garcia landed a right hook to the body, followed by a neat uppercut to the chin, but without venom, then came a long right hook to the head which dropped the Brit heavily.

The American champion jumped on Benn and did not let him off. Trapped on the ropes, referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to stop the onslaught.

Trained by Tony Simms, Benn looked devastated by the defeat. The 29-year-old has never fought for a British title, instead seeking out world title shots, which now appears to be a bit beyond his skillset.

"I knew he would bring the pressure, I felt the shots and thought 'I'll let him have his way', but I knew his was reckless and you can't do that with me," Garcia told DAZN.

"147lb is my division. I'm here, you can trust me as a champion.

"I’m gonna tell the truth here, I didn’t feel his power. I didn’t feel his size, not at all. There’s no way he rehydrated to 180.

"He must’ve had eggs in his pockets."

It was a humbling and unsurprising conclusion to the biggest night of Benn's boxing career.

Few gave the Essex fighter much chance, who fell to the second defeat of his 10-year professional career, having never faced an opponent of Garcia's calibre and most questioning whether he had done enough to earn a world title shot in the first place, having not fought at welterweight for four years.

Benn had already said this would be his final appearance in the division, regardless of the result. He rehydrated to light-heavyweight for this fight.

Garcia, 28, stayed true to his promise to stop Benn inside five rounds as he made a successful first defence of the title with his 26th win from 28 professional contests.

Earlier in the evening, a moment's silence was held before Monday's first anniversary of the death of Ricky Hatton, the Manchester hero who famously brought tens of thousands of British fans to Las Vegas during his illustrious career.

Benn's travelling support was far more modest, with only pockets of British fans visible among the 18,855 crowd at T-Mobile Arena.

Benn, dressed in black with a Union Jack carried behind him, was greeted by a chorus of boos as he made his way towards the ring alongside his famous father Nigel, who enjoyed one of his most famous victories in Las Vegas when he stopped Iran Barkley inside a round, 36 years ago in 1990.

Garcia, who is of Mexican heritage, took considerably longer over his entrance, walking out to mariachi music on the Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Much of the build-up had centred on whether Benn's return to 10st 7lb (67kg) would leave him drained, but with no rehydration clause he had looked considerably bigger by fight night.

In the end, it made little difference. There were some suggestions ringside that the stoppage came early, with Benn still moving and trying to evade shots, but the referee was justified in preventing further punishment.

The fighters embraced afterwards, but while attention quickly switched to Garcia - who exchanged words with WBO champion Teofimo Lopez at ringside - Benn left the arena looking very dejected.