5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - King Ryan Too Good for Benn

Episode Date: September 13, 2026

How did Ryan Garcia make it look so easy? Richie Woodhall joins Buncey to break down Garcia’s devastating two-round stoppage of Conor Benn in Las Vegas. They look at what made Garcia so dominant from the opening bell, whether Benn could have approached the fight differently and where it all went wrong for the Brit. Plus, they assess what the defeat means for Benn and ask what comes next for both fighters.

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This is Five Live Boxing. In the end, Ryan Garcia finished it clinically in the second round. Connor Ben was never, as they say in the trade, at the races. It was still a dramatic night at a T-Mobile in Las Vegas. I'm Steve Bunce and this is Five Live Boxing.

So a spectacular night in Las Vegas, but I'm going to start today's pod with a quote from Don King. Now, he told me this quote in 1993 in Mexico City when I was at a restaurant with him, just before Juliocesa Chavez fought Greg Hogan in front of 140-odd thousand people. It was quite late at night, and Don said to me, said, you know this boxing business? So I looked at him, he said, and this is a quote, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. Well, I tell what, it's one of the great. greatest quotes out there. I use it all the time. But after last night,

there's lots of people screaming all sorts of stuff, that might sum up what we saw in the ring. Just to let you know what happened. Ryan Garcia's speed was simply too much. With two minutes left in the second round, he dropped Connor Ben to all fours of a beautiful right hand, centimetre perfect. Ben got up, trapped on the ropes, caught 15 or so times, back ahead, not clean shots, referee stepped in. We thought it might have been a bit premature, But the bottom line is Conor Ben didn't complain. And with Richie Woodle, of course I'm with Richie Woodle, we're trying to dissect what happened,

trying to go through what happened. We're going to have to be a little bit revisionist. We're going to look back in history and we're going to say sorts of things. I saw loads of stuff online, Richie, about saying, Connor Ben was never this, he was never that, and Garcia's this and Garcia's that. That's all after the event.

Let's be reasonable. Let's be professional. We've watched it, Richie, in my kitchen this morning. What did you think? I thought that Conner started, he didn't start very well I think the problem for him was always going to, was always going to be the speed of Garcia, the movement I think was good.

I think for Conner Ben, you know, he just hoped that Garcia would hold his feet and trade with him, which he clearly didn't do that. He was never going to do that. No, it's awesome for courses. You love the start of it, but before the first bill, five minutes in, you said, I like in Garcia, Stevie. Up on his toes, literally bouncing up on the canvas,

and you could just see that was his game and his tactic was to hit a move. But I think Garcia showed, I thought, another side to his game also. He just showed you how skillfully is, Steve, good timing, good movement. And you could see that he was well prepared for a Connor Ben, who's not that quick on his feet coming forward. And for me, it just played into Ryan Garcia's hands with the hit and movement style. And Connor didn't start the contest very well. you know, but at the end of the start of the fight,

you know, that can happen, definitely to any box who doesn't start well, but didn't get to grips with it. But where was the Stalin? Where was that nastiness which you'd come to expect from him? We needed to see a lot more aggression from him, even though it's only the first round, you know, it's very important that you try and win that first round. You're feeling your opponents out, definitely.

But he just couldn't, he couldn't not get to grips with the movement of Garcia. But what impressed me about Garcia was the fast jabs, the long left hook that he was bringing him on to, then the odd right up a cut, and the movement was just perfect, and you could just clearly see that Garcia was expecting everything that Connor Ben was doing. When you looked at Ben, and we said after 20 seconds, he's a bit behind, he's a bit behind pace, just off the pace. You said after 20 seconds, Richard, and you didn't know the result. After a minute, you were saying

it, and then we were saying, where's that snarling? Where's that stuff that we've come to expect from him? There were half a dozen clinches in the first round. Now, the Conor Ben from the two Eubank fights, The Conner Ben from that sequence of wins he had all those years ago when he was beating all of those veteran former champions, Samuel Vargas, Adrian Granados, Chris Algeria, Chris Van Heard and stopping them on beating Granados on points, but winning every round. Where was that snarling aggressive man? So before we deal with, we've gone ding ding here, end of first round.

Before we deal with the second round, let's now be smart, which we're allowed to do. Let's go back, less emotional than say Stacey and I were when we were on the steps at Croker Lark. last week, analyzing Katie Taylor's performance and her career, we can be a bit more analytical, we can break it down. Let's go back. Now, it's the first time since 2019 he's been at that way. First time he's been that light since 2019.

Long time ago, Rich, he's boxed, obviously, Chris Eubanking back-to-back fights at about 159. He was 150, I think, earlier this year when he beat Regis program, where he was monumentally unimpressive. Yeah. He just wasn't at the races. No, he wasn't. No, I agree.

his mind was elsewhere. So let's go back. He's meant to have come in at 146.5 or whatever, 146. No problem. So he's inside the 147 limit. And then there's this wild story that he gained 30 pounds, which he didn't, but it's a nice story anyway. Rich, having watched the fight now,

I know you're not an after timer. No. You said really early into that fight, he doesn't look right. What made you say that, Rich? He didn't look right. I suppose it's because he just couldn't cope. with the speed and the movement, and he didn't have any sort of ideas

of how to cut the rings down and get to his opponents. And I know it's only the first round, and you have to take into account, it's an absolutely massive occasion, and without a shadow of a doubt, nerves would have definitely got to him. But he was just making mistakes, and I always thought Connor had a good chance in this fight,

and I'll say you for why. He is a naturally bigger man than Garcia. Remember Garcia three years ago, fought Giovante Davis, down, I think, super featherweight, or even feather. 20, 21 pounds lighter. It's unbelievable. Garcia, you know,

now Garcia is a little bit taller, but he's a slim guy, you know, and he's filled into the weight. And he looked really bad on the scales. Yeah, on Friday, I was stunned by how bad Garcia looked. Garcia looked, you know, but kind of bent for me, as always, I know he's been up to, before Chris Eubank up at 159, 16,

but all his career, Steve, he's been a well-to-weight, he's naturally a bigger man, and that's why I thought he had a good chance against Garcia, but, you know, and I thought that size, would matter. His problem was always going to be to avoid shots coming forward, but I didn't see any fast head movements.

I didn't see that double jab to close that gap down and then work the body. I didn't see any of that. Let's give credit to Garcia. He didn't allow him to do that. Because he catches him early and staggers him really in the first 20 or 30 seconds. Exactly, and a long left duck

that he brings him on to. But he was just far too slow. Or was Garcia that fast? That quick. That quick. Conner Ben looks slow. Exactly. you know, and I put it down on a piece of paper.

You know what I do, Steve. I always look at the two boxes and I write certain stuff on them and their careers, whatever. And I put right at the end of my Ryan Garcia column, I put speed, big factor in the game. It's there, you know, I haven't wrote it after this. That's before and, you know me.

And it was always going to be that speed was going to be a big factor. And Connor just could not. He didn't have an answer for it, Steve. And he couldn't cope with it right from the word go. And that really surprised me because that's when I thought that Connor, they would have done the homework,

they've got to start quick, they've got to get on that front foot, loads and loads of pressure. It just wasn't there, but he didn't look right, right from the word go. And the more the round went on in that first round, the more lost he seemed to feel

because he was walking onto big left ducks, a couple of good right-upacuts, and the second round started a bit like the first round, and for me, he just wasn't there, and that really surprised me. And now, once we go into the second round, I mean, he looked okay in the corner. There was no panic from Tony Sims.

No. He's had a bad round, but that can happen. You know, and he wasn't falling over. Connor gets up, okay. But then it's almost like Garcia then increases the pace. And he catches him with that right uppercut, which, of course, we forget, because what comes about 30 seconds later,

he really hurts him with that right upper cut. And he wobbles, Ben back. Cracking shot. Best start of the round, I thought, apart from that right hand, actually puts him down. But the right up a good for me is a belting punch, Steve. To throw that shot against Connor coming in, that's a simple thing to work out in the gym.

It's a simple thing to plan for, much harder to put into practice. He catches Ben three or four, five times coming in with that, including that dangerous shot there. And then, Rich, it seemed to me, of course, we're all geniuses after we watched it. But it seemed to me like he was just leading him on

to what was effectively the punch that finished the fight. That clean right hand. You've seen different angles of it. Yeah. Every angle is sicken him. I think Garcia couldn't believe probably how Conner sort of fell into the trap because there was no change of pace from his feet. It was just sort of what, he was very one-paced Connor in this contest, I thought,

and he just couldn't get to grips with it. But Garcia, I think he probably couldn't believe how easy it actually was in terms of hitting the opponents as he's coming forward. You needed, you know, when you're on, when you're front foot pressure boxer, Steve, you need head movement as you're going forward. because if you're going into that danger zone, if that punching range, you've got to be able to avoid shots to land your shots.

You're basically, any front foot pressure fighter, is counter punching on the front foot. So he moves forward, the head movement, the opponent throws the shot, he's looking to avoid that punch with probably a slip and then whip shots over the top or actually change the switch the attack downstairs. If you haven't got that head movement

and you're walking forward in slow feet, you're just going to walk on to punches. You're a target. And that's basically. what happened. So once he goes down from the right hand, we'll look at the reasons why Garcia seemed to control this fight easily. We'll look at grade and history. We'll do that in a moment. So I know that's something that we both like to do. Okay, we probably should have done this last week, but we didn't do a special Connor Ben and Ryan Garcia podcast. And I wish we had.

I really wish we had. So once he goes down, he looks really unsteady, gets up, doesn't quite look at the referee. He's not falling all over the place, but he's clearly her. There's no smiling, snarling, no wink at the corner, nothing. He then gets trapped on the ropes where I've watched it a couple of times now, Rich, where there's maybe seven to 12, 15 shots. Now, they're not all clean, don't get me wrong. There's a lot of illegal punches to go in, but that's what happens.

If you're ducking down low and you're, you know, Rangirassia has got massively speedy hands. So he's letting those punches go in. I mean, actually, If we analyse it, maybe there's 17 punches and maybe 10 or 12 land somewhere around the head. They're landing clean. Now, your first fault when the referee jumped in between them,

Thomas Tyler, I think did a good job. When he jumps in between them, your first thought was my first fault, a bit premature. Bit premature. But then what happens then? Well, it's a bit premature, but there's no complaints from Conner. Bingo. And he would scream the place down if he could continue at that point.

Exactly, you know. And then everyone else would be saying, yeah, it's definitely premature. I thought it was premature, but there's nothing coming back from Connor. There's no complaints whatsoever. And so really, it's clouded over. Yeah, and if you don't mind me saying so, there's a long time left. You know, there's a long time left in the round.

Yeah, exactly. 85 seconds, I calculate. When the stoppage comes, yes, obviously Garcia knows he's got Conner Ben going. And when you're in that position and you know your opponent's going, you're just throwing shots and you're trying to hit the target. There's a lot that don't hit the target. There's a lot that hit around the side. You keep the man pinned.

There's a lot that hit kind of sort of around the back of the head at the side of the head. But it's boxing, Steve, you in a fight and that's what happens in those situations. And he doesn't, I don't think he really, really connects clean, but there's nothing coming back and it's one-way pressure. The referee jumps in. I think it's a little bit too soon.

And I'm expecting Conner to screen the place down. Exactly. Nothing comes back from Connor. And what happens is to add fuel to, it was stopped early. Just before the ref jumps in, Connor leans back from a big left hook. So he is aware of what's going on.

He's not out on his feet. No, he's not out on his feet. But the key is he doesn't complain. Didn't complain. You know, I saw Tony Bellew fighting the referee after Adonis Stevenson beating, trying to continue. I saw Lennox Lewis getting up at nine and a half,

10 against Oliver McCall and fighting the referee. There was, you know, Connor, Connor was a bit like AJ when he got stopped by Ruiz. you know, on his feet, but wasn't really, you know, concussed, I would say, undoubtedly. And, you know, maybe now, maybe Conner will wake up in Las Vegas and go, that was stopped early, and he might have a scream. And we've got to work on the time. The referee can only work on the time.

You've got to work on the time, and there was no complaint. No, there's no complaint. And I think the referee, if he has gone in there a little bit soon, maybe he got away with it because there's nothing coming back from Conner Ben. And then, you know, if there's something coming back from Conner Ben saying, you know, screaming the place down, then other people are going to jump on board and say, Yeah, it was definitely too early. But if Conner doesn't complain,

and, well, you know, the referees probably made the right call, if anything, but I thought it was a little bit too soon, personally. Richie, let me ask you this then. It's a really simple question. Why did he lose? Why was it so easy? Because let's not mince our words.

We've seen Connor Ben, who we've really got behind, we've really backed, even though there's been no action at all against maybe six or seven British, well-to-waites in the last six or seven years. and I've got the details here, what he was doing

and what the rest of the British world to wait pack were doing, and there's a lot of good names in there. Why was it so easy for Garcia? Because I sensed from the interview on TV, and I haven't had the pleasure of getting into his dressing room and talking to him somewhere at the T-Mobile. By the way, there was a capacity crowd

or something like 18,550 or whatever it was, 18,8,855, boom. And the gate receipts, 8,000, 30,000 and 75, $85 and $85. Don't forget that $0.85, son. So why was it so easy for Garcia? Why did Connor Ben get beat so easily?

Two main factors, I think if you're looking at it technically, how he got beat, was his feet were too slow, and there was little head movement as he's going forward. He wasn't dynamic enough, wasn't fast enough. And then as the contest, you know, it starts off. He couldn't adapt to the speed and the movement of Garcia, but his own actual boxing, his feet are too. too slow and there's little head movement as he's going forward.

It was quite an easy target to hit. I think that's why he's got beat and the fact that he couldn't adapt to the style in front of him, which is a little bit surprising because he should have known and the camp should have known that Garcia is tall, he's rangy, he's not really a well-to-weight, he's fought down at feather even, and it was definitely going to be speed and movement

which was going to be the problems and that what he's bringing to this fight, how he's going to try and win it, He's on speed, and he's on movement. And with Connor Ben, it was an actually perfect opponent who's got slow feet, little head movement, couldn't adapt. That's why he's got beats. So for Ryan Garcia, he can't believe how easy it was.

I think it's totally different if Garcia stands and trades, then Conner's brought into it, and it could have been a totally different fight. But you've got to give credit to Garcia in his camp. He's done the homework, and he's got the tactics absolutely spot on. But I think Conner Ben has made life really easy for. Yeah, I think he has made life very easy for him. But let's, a couple of things, which Ryan Garcia, massive grade, okay?

Back in 2008, when he's like a nine or a 10-year-old, is in these tournaments. These are the kind of guys he's met and beaten and lost to, but beaten a couple of times. Shakir Stevenson as an amateur, Devin Haney as an amateur, also as a pro, although that got no contest because of a failed test. And then also Virgil Ortiz. So he was mixing in great company from 2008 on, 2012 when he was like 12 and 13, years of age of mixing in a good company. However, to balance that, we've done a great thing here

building Ryan Garcia up into the second coming of Oscar Delahoya Stroke-Sugar Ray Robinson. Let's pull back a little bit. Just last year, he fights Ralei Romero. He's a perfectly decent world to weight, gets dropped and loses comfortably on points for a version of the world title. This year, Romero gets his ears balked off

by Tiafimo Lopez. So we're not talking here about a guy that's untouchable, unbeatable. No. We're not talking about, we're not talking about Ryan Garcia like we were talking about Moses Itama before the Philip Hergevich fight

where no one could live with him. This is a winnable fight for Connerbent an absolute winnable fight. He sighs, you know, if it was the Conner Ben that fought Chris Eubank who just kept coming forward and he was fast, who was, as you say,

had that snarling sort of style that he had and taking shots and bouncing off him. That was when he was like his dad. That was Nigel Ben Conner Ben. People will say, yeah, but he was up at 159, 160. Yeah, I get it. But let's remember, Conner Ben has been a well-to-weight the whole of his career.

Let's just get one thing straight. He has fought a well-to-weight, but he was so light for this fight. This was the lightest he's been since 2019. That's what I was talking about. We know he's fought a welter-weight, but this is the lightest he's been. But, Steve, that would suggest then that he's prepared well, if the lightest he's been. And that's what everyone said. He had prepared absolutely brilliant.

He looked in great condition. He's prepared well. He's light, okay. But for me, he just... I don't think weight is an issue here because I think he's been well-to-weight for most of his career. That's the point I'm getting at.

And people will say, yeah, but he's been up at 160. That's when he thought his best at Chris Eubank's Union. Yeah, but okay. But for most of his career, Conner Ben has been a well-to-weight. He's naturally a well-to-weight, and that's it for me. So he was inside the world-to-weight limit against Chris Van Heerden, which was in April of 2020.

I take that on board. So were you slightly alarmed when he came in, you know, nearly a pound. I think it was just over 14-6. nearly a pound light. The other guy came in a pound and a half light, which I find a massive difference in weight. Well, Steve, if he's coming in a pound light,

it tells you that he's not struggling at the weight. You know, people will say, yeah, but he's performed better 159, 160 with Eubank. Okay, I get it. But if he's struggling on the weight, he's probably dead on 147 and probably taking, he's had to go to the scales twice to make 147

if he's struggling on the weight. He's a pound in. He's 146. He's not struggling. on the weight. So it's not a weight issue. And that would that, you know, reiterates my point. He is a welterweight. No doubt about it. Your sales order says one thing. Your inventory says another. Your spreadsheet says, good luck. Odu brings your business together on a single platform, from sales and accounting to inventory and

marketing. Visit Odu.com to book a demo. It's ODbh.com. Get more with BBC Podcasts wherever you listen. Be the first to listen to your favorite shows like evil genius, good bad billionaire and you're dead to me, with a subscription to BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts. You can also enjoy a range of our podcasts ad free with an Amazon music subscription. So do you think we're, what do you think we're going to hear from the Connor Ben Camp? I mean, we don't have crystal balls and Connor Ben and Tony Sims didn't seem to be too involved, Keith Connolly getting involved with people afterwards. So there's no, there's not reams of interviews yet. They might be. They might call a meeting

Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, Lennox Lewis style, and say this is what went wrong, this was in training camp, this happened, this happened. They could do that. They could do that. Let's get it right. Although he said last night, he did say in the ring last night, Conabed, or he was grabbed as he left.

No excuses. There you go. And that's what I'm hoping to hear from him. I'm hoping to hear that he says, no excuses. I didn't adapt. He was a little bit too quicker than what I thought. I've walked onto shots. You know, I didn't move him ahead.

He's got me with a couple of big shots and I didn't recover. I hope he puts his hand up and admits to that, Steve. I don't want to hear something that's gone wrong in training, this fact, if they're going to come up with excuses. I just think, I hope he puts his hand up and says, the guy was a little bit too quick for me, I'll learn from it, I'll definitely learn for it, and I'll be back. But I can testify, having sat and watched this fight with Ritchie today,

who had no idea who won, whatever it was, 6 o'clock in the morning, Richie said within 30 seconds, he doesn't look right. That's not after timing. That's fact. I was witness to it. Richie, just quickly, Ryan Garcia has got some potential opponents at ring side. He called Tiefemo Lopez up into the ring. Of course, Devin Haney has a version of the World Tiler.

That's another fight that could possibly happen. Jack Cattle, that's what I'd like to see. Listen, I love Jack Cattrell. I love Jack Cattle. Jack Cattle owns the WBA regular version. Why not? And, of course, I would love to see it. I just don't think we're going to see it

because I think Jack has just got an unfortunate face. No one wants to touch him. The risk is far outweighs the reward. It would be great for British fans. It would be absolutely brilliant. And why not? Devon Haney is the fight I'd like to see. Yes, so Garcia goes off into the ether

and he's no longer part of our British boxing business, but great to him because it gets on his own and they're a global company, necessarily a British boxing government. Of course, Devin Haney, it'd be Devin Haney too, wouldn't it? Because he's 40 before. I think they think about six times as amateurs. But let me, you know I've mentioned earlier on, Rich. So Conner Ben goes on this great run,

2020, 2020, 2021 to 22, the four wins that sort of establish him, because they're all guys he was going to beat, but he beats them well and it looks good against, you know, half decent names. A couple of them have been former world champions. Now, during that time, during that time, and I think this is really important. Echo Essemann had won the British title,

was then defended it four defenses, then lost it to Harry Scarf. And then in 2025, when Connor bends contemplating his future and looking at the Eubank fights making fortunes, Echo beats Josh Taylor, but then loses to Jack Cattrell and then loses to Jack Rafferty.

Connor Ben meanwhile beats scarf for the British title. Now it's a guy called Constantine Ursue we saw recently. And at the same time as all this is going on, Belfast Lewis Crocker beats Connor Walker, tight decision, 24. And that's those two wins, one of them controversial over Paddy Donovan. So the British and Irish well-to-weight division during Connor Ben's glory years, great years, even with his exile for 18 months or whatever it was, it's very active.

He doesn't fight any of them. Now, we're not being after time, as we have talked about this in the past. Is he a better fighter? Would he be a better fighter more seasoned fighter had he met one or two of those six or seven guys

instead of, to re-quote Don King, you don't get what you deserve in boxing, you get what you negotiate. And Eddie Hearn and Keith Connolly and now Zuffer's boss, man, Dana White, they've negotiated some great things for Conner Ben, haven't they? Yeah, they have indeed, you know,

at the end of the day, he's earned a lot of money, Conner Ben, and a lot of people out there will say, well, that's what Boxman. is all about. But for me, Steve, it isn't what it's all about. It's about winning titles

and being a genuine champion. The money comes after that. But having said all that, Steve, where does he go from here, Connor Ben? There are some great British fights for him, like you said, Lewis Crocker. I'd like to see him in with our lad here, Connor Walker from War Brunton.

That's a great fight, that is? Here's the thing. He left Eddie, you remember, did that deal with Zuffer, caused all that problems for 50 million. Shock of the world, February 25th. Of course, when we look at it, it wasn't such a great big shock

because Conner gives a back story about him and Eddie, you know, falling out of love a long while earlier, a lot, a lot before that. So it's not going to be really, I've just read, you know, let's go through that list, Jack Rafferty, Jack Cattle, it's not going to be him, not going to be Connor Walker. It's not even going to be Conner. So it might be Lewis Crocker because, you know, he's a bit independent to a degree.

But we know those are fights we'd like to see, but I don't think any of those are going to happen because all of those people are with people who are the big enemies of Dana White and, of course, Keith Connolly, the manager of Conner. That's not me taking size. Let's just me tell you. One possibility, and I believe he was ringside. Chris Eubank Jr.

Yeah, that's the fight. Yeah, that would be the third fight. That's the fight. But I've got to be honest with you, Rich. You know, the British fight public might look at that and they might go, well, hold on a minute. Ubank in the last fight wasn't it the races. He got dropped, he got banned and pushed all over the place by Conner Ben up at middleweight. So they come back at, say, light middle, 154 or even 160, which would suit you back with no rehydration clauses and no, and no push, no strong.

pictures on him. But people might go, but hold on a minute. Connor Ben got smashed the bits knocked out by a guy who only two years ago was fighting at 135 pounds called Ryan Garcia. Are we meant to, I mean, I'm being honest, you can't just keep telling people this is the greatest fight and these are the greatest fights in history.

We can't keep doing it, Rich. I totally agree with you, but when you look at it now, where else does he go? As you say, I'd like to see him against our lad Connor Walker. I'd like to see him. I'd like to see him against Jack Cattrell. Jack Cattrell. What a great fight. What does he have to do?

What a statement that would be? What a statement that would be for Connor Ben if he could beat Jack Coucher, which is a really difficult fight. I'll tell you a fight. The two absolute preen most preen welterweights in the world, Paddy Donovan, right, who loves his hair, looks after himself. And Connor Ben. Yeah.

We could do that in a beauty salon. So there are some really good British and Irish fights that could be made that we want. But, Steve, you know yourself, Conner's in a business now with his promoters where he's making a lot of money and it'll be the fight that makes him. the most money. What do I see makes in the most money now? Would definitely be a Chris Eubank trilogy fight. Without a shadow of a doubt for me. Again,

that might please the British public. It might not. But if you're talking about fights that are going to earn the most money, probably that's the fight that would make him the most money. Listen, it would still obviously it would interest the British public. The British public, you know, turn out in their thousands of boxing fans going watch misfits.

So would a Jack Katzof? They watch Big Stacks and Jordan McCann swinging in like a couple of housewives after after a fallout, a bingo, let's get that right. They would pay it or watch that again and again and again. I'm just not sure it would have the same buzz surrounding it this time. A third fight between those. And I agree it's the money fight for both of them.

Steve, it will all depend as well on what Connor wants. Does Connor, is he thinking I want to earn as much money as I can, so I'll go in with you bank? Or does he say, now, right, I want to show the British public now, how really good I am. I will fight someone like a Jack Capsule who no one wants to fight. and I'll overwhelm him and I'll beat him and I'll show people out just what I can do.

It all depends on what Nigel Ben wants to do. Does he want, like I said, does he want to earn the most money or does he want to show people how good he really is? And just to finish up, Rich, and by the way, I love doing these just after American fights finish pods. They're really brilliant.

Because at 9 o'clock in the morning, it feels like it's about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and you can't sleep, you're absolutely stuffed. Ritchie Ryan Garcia, you know, we've mentioned some of his flight. loss, you know, he can lose his way. He had the drug, he had the drug ban. He had that odd performance against Giovanni David, although he was caught with a couple of good shots. He had a really bewildering performance and got dropped and lost to Rale Romero last year.

If he continues to get things right, like he did against Connor Ben, how big a star could he be inside the global boxing world and especially the American boxing world? And they're crying out for a savior. Could be an absolute superstar, I think. Good looking kid. I don't think he's peaked yet at 28, remember. It's a baby 28, isn't he? Yeah, exactly.

So he'll probably peak physically, 31, 32 at that weight. So he's probably got three or four years where he'll grow into the weight and he could be... His style of boxing... He doesn't want to go up. He says he wants to stay here. Oh, fair enough. He says, this is the city...

That could change. That could change. There's a massive offer from somewhere above. Exactly. You know, and you remember he's 5'9 and a half, so he could go up if he wanted to. Comptu. If he's around like Welter, well,

His style of boxing, it makes him, I think he could be an absolute superstar. He's very what they call judge-friendly. He hits and makes the opponent miss. Clean shots. Great variety. Good jab. Left hook, right-up-a-cut, right-hand over the top. He hits the target clean.

And, you know, like I say, he hits, and he's got very good movement. When you put all those ingredients together, then, yeah, you've got a superstar on your hands. I think as long as he keeps that speed element and speed. factor, which is a big part, and I'm so glad that I wrote it down before the fight. So am I. I thought it was going to be a big factor in the fight. It was. And I think, yeah, he is a future superstar.

And like I say, still not peaked. And Connor Ben, nice big break, not so many excuses. And New Bank looks like the most viable, cash-friendly, easiest fight in theory. For both of them, Rich. I think so. You know, Connor Ben, still a good fighter, you know, at the end of the day. He just got it wrong, and he just wasn't with it for this one. but his future is, you know, he's making a lot of money,

and he's still a decent fighter. The biggest fight out there for him is probably that Chris Eubank trilogy fight. I think it will excite people, and if he puts in another good performance, that will get him back on track. And who knows, somewhere down the line, he might fancy Garcia, but he's got to go back to the drawing board

and do a lot of work to get up to that standard, I think, Steve. I'll leave you a one little fight for Garcia, and he's been one of the most frustrating boxes over the last few years, but he can clearly do that way. That's what he walks out around. about 160 pounds. I'll leave you with this for, Richard. You can't even make a comment once I've said it.

Javenta Davis moves up to 1.45. You know what? I knew you was going to say it. I knew you was going to say Jvonta Davis. You can't do that. You can't do that. You were not allowed to comment. I knew it.

Oh, that is a fantasy fight. Fantastic. Richie, before I let you go, it looks like we are maybe as close as we've ever been to having a venue and a date. I know we've had several false runs over the last. last, well, rather the last nine years and certainly over the last four or five months. But Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, looks like, increasingly likely, it might end up with the

principality. Oh, I hope so. Late, late, late November, more likely early December, outdoors, but they have a roof from him, but it's nearly the entire roof, nearly covers the entire roof. Sorry, that's not the right word. They have something that comes across, which is a roof, but it doesn't cover. all of the stadium. Let's put it that way.

So if you're in the cheap seats, you're going to get drowned. If you're in the cheap seats in the two, in four corners, you're really in trouble. Hey-ho, no, I'm here,

not here, not here. I think we, I think worse ways, by the time we do a new pod next week, after Pat Brown's fought John Hedges for the vacant British Cruiserweight tire

to let the co-op. I'd be up there doing a pod next Saturday. It's a great fight as well. I love Pat Brown, I love John Hedges. By the time we've done that, doing that pod next week,

I'm convinced we'll know if this fight's a taking place, or be not taking place. It's irrelevant where it's taking place. It's just, is it taking place or is it off? Well, you know, it's still a fight that everyone wants to see. I don't think that they've both looked good in their last contest. In fact, they haven't looked good at all.

However, I think a Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua fight really sparked the imagination, and it has done for many, many years with the British boxing public. And you know what, Steve, we've always been excited about going to Saudi, going to Madison Square Garden, going to Vegas. This fight for me has got to take place in this country. Either Wembley or the principality, it's got to take place here. Literally, because they owe it, I think, for the British public.

We've been waiting for so long for this fight. It's got to take place here in front of whatever 100,000 people. That would be found, whatever it is. The British boxing public deserve this fight to be here in this country. They absolutely do. Ritchie Woodle, thank you very much indeed. We want that fight here. We're not sure when it's going to happen.

and we're not sure where it's going to happen. We just want it to happen. And as for uncertainty, Connor Ben will be waking up in Las Vegas, not quite sure what happened in the T-Mobile ring. Probably a bit dazed and confused that he managed to get beat so easily. Probably a bit dazed and confused

that he managed to not do any of his Conner-Ben things. He'll have to do a lot of thinking. But bear in mind, in many ways, Connor Ben is still, and it sounds like a contradiction in terms for a 29-year-old man, but he's still a boxing, baby. What a 16 days we've had. I know I say this all the time, but let me just recap the last

three weekends of British and Irish boxing. We had Philip Hergevich in a ridiculous fight against Moses Atama. Seven days later, we had 83,000 people at Croke Park for Katie Taylor's farewell. And then seven days later, we had 18,855 an official sellout for Connor Ben in a world title fight against Ryan Garcia. 16 days, three nights like that. I'm telling you now, I know a little bit about boxing history. We've never had that in British and Irish boxing.

Anyway, it's early in the morning. I hope you enjoy this. I've been Steve Bunce. He was Richie Woodo and this is Five Live Boxing. The EFL has a brand new home. Hello and welcome to 72 plus the home of the EFL from Five Live Sports. Aaron Paul and Jobie McEnuff tackle the biggest stories

from across the championship, League one, League two and beyond. minimum of one week's wage is fine and we may be even write to your wife and tell you what you've been fined if you carry on. And the biggest talking points from across the football league. I always spoke while I told me and enjoyed working with him.

It's my show too now, but yeah, thanks for that. Sorry, I haven't heard you know. Search 72 plus, the EFL podcast on BBC Sounds. Get more with BBC podcasts, wherever you listen. Be the first to listen to your favourite shows like evil genius, good, bad billionaire, and You're Dead to Me, with a subscription to BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts.

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