Piers Morgan Uncensored - "Shut The F*** UP!" Ryan Garcia On Conor Benn World Title Fight + Terence Crawford Beef

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

Professional boxer and WBC Welterweight champion Ryan Garcia joins Piers Morgan Uncensored for an exclusive sit-down interview ahead of his highly anticipated title defence against British boxer Conor Benn. Ryan opens up about his struggles with substance abuse and mental health, including the one-year ban from boxing he received after testing positive for PEDs. He reflects on his downward spiral in 2024, saying he felt he wasn’t being given enough credit for what he had achieved in boxing and was under constant pressure from those around him. Ryan also hits back at Conor Benn’s criticism of him as a “Gen Z kid” who has never had to suffer. He argues that the comment is ironic coming from Benn, the son of legendary British boxer Nigel Benn, and doubles down on his confidence ahead of the fight, saying it is “unbelievable” that he is getting “paid a bunch of money to beat up a beginner.” Watch Ryan Garcia face Conor Benn live this Saturday, September 12 in the United States on Paramount+ and in the U.K. & Ireland via DAZN pay-per-view or a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription. (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:44) Garcia opens up on substance and mental health battles (00:03:14) “Not at my level” - Garcia on Conor Benn (00:05:34) Polymarket predication for the fight: https://polymarket.com/sports/zuffa/zuffa-garcia-benn-2026-09-12 (00:08:44) Garcia reveals how much money he's made and lost (00:13:47 ) Why did Garcia's stance on Trump change? (00:20:09) Garcia throws jabs at “retired” Terence Crawford and his “little crew” (00:24:04) Garcia rapping with an orangutan in a Mercedes (00:26:24) Would Garcia fight Jake Paul? (00:30:14) Garcia guarantees “5 and below” against Conor Benn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify advertising connects you with an audience that's engaged and ready to discover your brand. Launch a campaign with Spotify Ads Manager. When you were going through your slightly crazy period in the last two years. I am vindicated. Look at a couple of the things I said about child sex trafficking. That's the president of the United States. I feel like if that's ignored, then I can't support that. You won't do shit.

I promise you won't do shit. I promise you won't do it. His dad is the only reason he's at this point of his career. So I'm really getting paid a bunch of money to beat up a beginner. This dude is not at my level. You're still a lame little fuck, but you've got a shitty-ass attitude. No one gives a fuck about you because you don't get to talk about anyone, but yourself, weirdo. Go back to living under a rock.

You are annoying and an arrogant fault. Ryan Garcia is a boxing champion with a personality to match. fast hands and explosive style, instant reactions. And that's just on social media. This week, it's the fighting he's focused on. Garcia defends his crown against an uncensored British favorite. Connor Ben, you can see it on Paramount Plus in the US and with DeZone in the UK.

And you can see Ryan Garcia on uncensored right now. Well, I can't think of many people, Ryan, in world sport, who better live up to the title of uncensored than you. I mean, I think that I just very open and speak my mind. But, you know, that's just my personality. I've always been like that since I was young, so I guess nothing's changed. You've had an extraordinary couple of years. I mean, you know, if you go back to 2024, things were all progressing very smoothly.

You'd lost, I think, one fight in your career. You were a golden boy. You were charismatic. Everyone loved you. and then it was like this series of things happened to you, like you kind of roller coaster ride, included the failed drugs test, mental health struggles, drinking, partying, even an arrest and so on.

What was going on with you in that period? Well, I think that I think back then, you know, it may have looked like everything was good and dandy, but in reality, you know, a lot of people had never given me credit for what I've done in the sport. So I don't really think that's the right perspective at the time of how people viewed me, you know. But I would say the amount of pressure and everything that I've had to deal with since I've started boxing, I think came to a bullying point.

And I was pretty frustrated. And I had a lot of anger that was built up. And I think that, you know, it came with a lot of struggles, shrinking and a lot of mental health. issues, but that's just the story of 2024. How are you today? Amazing. You know, it takes a lot of inner reflection to understand really what went down and to just kind of find that balance again.

And I did that and I captured a world title shortly after that. So, you know, it's just, it's all learning and experience and don't let, you know, anything slow you down from moving forward. I've interviewed your opponent at the weekend, Connor Ben, multiple times actually, in bad times and then good times for him. He's been quite scathing about your mindset and mentality ahead of this fight.

He says, we're just not the same. My pillars are very different to his. Mine's family, working hard, choosing the hard way because the hard way pays off later. He's one of these Gen Z kids, kid men who want an easy life. just not wired that way. Suffer now, I live the rest of your life as a champion, is my sort of mindset.

Well, I mean, here's the thing. There's people that are original, and I'm an original person. He's obviously taking things from so many different quotes and people that it's kind of just fabricated. I've done this. I've been boxing since I was seven years old. I've captured 15 national titles. I've fought way more professional fights. There's no way you would get to this point without hard work.

work. At the end of the day, if anybody's that, which is kind of funny and ironic, his dad is the only reason he's at this point of his career. So I'm really getting paid a bunch of money to beat up a beginner. This dude is not at my level. He's a jokester and he's banking that supposedly I don't work hard, which everybody says is kind of boring at this point. The narrative is just like, bro, come up with something else. They come up with the same things and it's just kind of boring. He's coming down to 147 pounds for the fight, and I've got to say the pictures of him, he looked pretty gaunt. I mean, a totally different kind of physique to what we're used to with Connor Ben. That can obviously, with a lot of boxes, be quite problematic to lose that kind of

weight. Do you think that's going to give you a big advantage? I mean, here's the thing. He only went up to 160 to fight Chris Ubank, so he's really a 147. pounder. He's just looking to make excuses already because he knows what's going to happen. I mean, he's already saying this is my last fight at 147. Like, nobody says that if they feel confident. I mean, you're fighting for a World Championship belt and you're already kind of saying that you're leaving the division.

That's kind of strange to me. Polymarket, the prediction market, gives you a 69% chance of winning. you came face to face with your... What was that? No, it's a great number. It's pretty good. I mean, it gives you nearly a 70% chance. So you came face to face with Connor Ben

at the face office. Take a look at some of the highlights from that. You won't do shit. I promise you won't do shit. I want to do shit. I want to do shit. We want to do shit. We want to do shit.

We want to do shit. Yeah, yeah. He won't do shit. I mean, I always find those quite entertaining. Obviously, it's to sell tickets. Obviously, it's to get hype up and so on. You know, you come across, I've never met you, but you come across today as a very quiet,

humble, civilized human being. And then I see you in these faceoffs and you turn into a raging maniac. How easy is that to switch? You know, I mean, I kind of just don't force anything. If they want to get crazy, we can get crazy. If they want to chill, we can be chill. I play tango with my opponents.

Whatever you want to do, I could do better. So it's more of just a dance. We're just having fun. But at the end of the day, this is our profession. So when we get in there, we will do what we do. And all that's part of the show. We're here to entertain people and make sure that people get their money's worth.

And that's what I'm here to do. You've been described as American boxing's wildest mavericks since Mike Tyson. You've got over 13 million Instagram followers. Only Jake Paul, Anthony Joshua, and Conello have more followers in the active boxers list. So, you mean, you're a massive celebrity as well as being a professional boxer. It's obviously a strategy you've, you know, actively pursued and encouraged. Do you like that star status you have? Well, yeah, I mean, I love life.

And I find the fun and everything. And it's something that I've always been interested in social media and something that I kind of utilize for my career to kind of fast forward it to put me in some good positions. And I've kind of always had that type of stance on it. But let's not get mistaken that, you know, I've been boxing my whole life. this is all I've ever done. I didn't even finish high school. So this is literally all I've ever done my whole life. And I love it.

But I also love every aspect of life. You know, I love the way, you know, you wear clothes. I love fashion. I love everything. So people just often, you know, they try to look at one thing and then try to paint me as that. And, you know, in reality, I am only a boxer, pretty much. You're a very successful boxer.

It's made you very rich. How wealthy are you? Pretty wealthy, peers. Pretty wealthy. I'm very comfortable. I've read reports that you're worth $50 million. Is that right? Around there, yeah, around there.

Really? See, what is that? Given that you came from very little money, what is it like to get to this stage of your life, you're still a young man, and you're worth $50 million? I think that you have to have a good team around you that has a lot of experience with this type of money.

You know, often so many times boxers lose all their money. And I've had my fair share of stupid spending as an even younger fighter. So you have to learn from those experiences. So you don't end up with nothing at the end. This is a very grueling sport. And especially if somebody that came from nothing like myself has all this money, you could go like this. you don't realize that until you have it.

What's the dumbest thing you've done with money in terms of reckless spending? It's a lot of things, Pierce. I mean, I don't even want to think about it right now. Horrify me. Give me a terrible example. No, I just can't even do it. You know, I used to gamble a lot.

That's what, I think that's my worst regret is I used to gamble a lot, but now I don't anymore. But, you know, that's who I am, though. I'm a gamble. I'm a risk taker. I'm like Michael Jordan, we like to get after it, whatever it is, we want to do it the most. How much do you reckon you've lost gambling?

I don't know. I like two million. So the reason I ask it is simply that, you know, I looked at your background. You grew up with a brother and three sisters in the Mjave Desert in California. Your dad was a former professional fighter, gave up the sport when he began a family. as a family, you often slept in a car as he drove from event to event. You couldn't afford the hotel fees and so on. And you said after your win over Barry else recently,

I'm dedicating this to my dad. So you obviously feel a huge debt to your dad, who gave up his own pursuit, I guess, in this sport for you. And obviously, it's been completely vindicated that decision by how well you've done. But when you think about what you came from and the hardship that as a family you had financially, and you get to a point where you can lose $2 million gambling and so on,

what's that journey been like? Well, I mean, this is ultimately my whole family's dream, as far as, you know, as so as myself. And it's something that I really wanted to get done for the family. I've always been in the mindset of, I want to do this because this is my passion. And I want to follow my heart in my decisions, not for the money or not for even the bouts at the end of the day.

It's more so some type of journey for me, something deeper than, you know, just the glamour and the lights of it all. So when I won the world title, I really dedicated it to my dad because I know how much that meant to him. It means a lot to me, but it means even more to him. and it was just something that I felt in my heart I wanted to do. And I did that. And, you know, so it's a whole family effort,

and it's been many years and many sacrifices that they helped make to get me to where I'm at right now. And I'm just going to keep on, you know, pouring back what they poured into me and to them when I can't. When you were going through your slightly crazy period in the last two years, years. Did your family try and intervene, or did they just think he's got to get this out of his system? I mean, I don't know. I mean, they, they, uh, I was getting ready for a Devin Haney fight. So I was just really doing whatever I wanted to do. And, um, you know, and, you know,

they, they wanted me to not drink, of course, and not smoke and do all the things I was posting online, but, you know, it was, I mean, it was just what happened. They tried their best, but at the end of the day, you know, I wanted just to do what I wanted to do at that point. But I am vindicated. If you look at a couple of the things I said about child sex trafficking, that definitely came out. And people definitely now believe the atrocities ever since the Epstein Files did release. that there was the stuff that I was saying in that. Well, it's quite interesting because you were quite a big supporter of Donald Trump,

but you publicly renounced that support. And one of the reasons was the Epstein files. Why did that mean so much to you? Well, I feel like if things need to be investigated and there needs to be full transparency, and I think that he clearly stated that he was going to release it and there was going to be full transparency. And once that was not done and a little shied away and put under the rug,

I just can't be behind something like that. I think when kids are involved and there's many lives that need some type of justice for what has happened to them, especially if some of the stuff is true, then, you know, that needs to be taken serious. And as the president of the United States, I feel like if that's ignored, then I can't support that. There was a video that went viral of you with Trump in April 2024. You went to Murillago and saw him there.

And you shadow boxed you in front of him. I think we got a little clip of this. Now, apart from the fact you clearly have got incredibly fast hands, which is your big thing in boxing. But when you look back at that video of you with then obviously candidate Trump, what do you feel about that? Yeah. I mean, what can you do? In that specific time frame, it was either him or Kamala.

And, you know, I picked who I thought would be the more, you know, the better, you know, person for the job at the time. And a lot of things were promised at that time. And now I'm not going to say I regret anything. But, you know, that was just a moment of time. felt like was the right choice and the right move, and everybody has the right to, you know, switch their support if they want to. That's called, you know, that's, I mean, I don't know why people, yeah, I don't know why people get on me about that. It's like, okay, well, I changed my mind. Now what, you know what I mean? Like, that's just what it is.

Well, one of the other reasons, one of the other reasons I think that you renounced your support for Trump was you didn't like the ice raids in L.A., your Californian, You said, I may have voted for Trump, but I can't stay silent about what's happened with ICE in L.A. These aren't just illegals or statistics. They're people, hardworking immigrants, especially Mexicans who pay taxes, raise families, build our communities, and a part of the people that we love. Ripping them away from their homes is not just policy, it's pain. We can have borders without losing our humanity, which are powerful words that.

You know, were you getting a lot of pressure from, particularly the Mexican people? in communities to speak out against this? No, not at all. You know, I kind of move at my own tune. And, you know, I love my Mexican people, but sometimes they don't claim me because I don't speak Spanish, but it's all good. You don't speak Spanish at all?

Oh, my God, here we go. You've got to start it again. No, not at all. My family never taught me. But it's okay. It's all good. But, no, this is just a situation that it was definitely heartbreaking to see

and kids, you know, being ripped away from their families and just all the things that, that ICE kind of moved in their protocol, I didn't really agree with. And, you know, I couldn't just stay quiet for it. Now, I do support America and I love America. And I think that, you know, there needs to be some type of control with immigration. But there also needs to be some practical thinking on how to do the job. Not everything is gray and white in life. And I think that people need to have more heart

and feelings towards people in real lives. You've got one more fight with your current promoted, Golden Boy promotions, led by Oscar Delahoya. You're one of the hottest prospects, of course, in boxing. Dana White is big in the boxing game now with Zoufa boxing. There are rumors that he's coming hard for you. Dana is a big personal friend and supporter of Trump. Any potential conflict there for you?

No, I mean, I think that politics don't really, you know, shouldn't be getting involved in business. But, you know, like I said, once you meet me, you understand I'm a good 12 guy, you know, no matter who I support and what I believe in. But yeah, I've kind of stepped away from all the politics thing and trying to involve myself and all that. I'm pretty much just focused on my craft,

what I got to do. And I will have my input when I need to them. be, but more so about supporting people, I kind of just stay away from that now. Could you see yourself transferring to Zoufa boxing with Dana? I'm open to anything, you know, in life. If the opportunity is great, then why not? But I'm also not saying that I would do it. It's just I'm open to everything. You know, there's many other people that want to get involved. And I also have the option of just doing Ryan Garcia promotion. There's so many different options.

out there for me and I guess it's just one day at a time. Who are your boxing heroes? Oh man, I would say boxing heroes, people that have inspired me, I would say Mandy Pacquiao. We share the same faith. The fact that he was able to jump through eight weight classes is amazing. Floyd Mayweather, the way he was dedicated to his craft,

the way that he didn't let people's opinions on him, changed the fact of what he was going to become. Oscar Dalaihoia, because there's a lot of similarities in us. And I always looked up to his fights, and I love just the energy he brought to fights. And Muhammad Ali for standing up for causes and things that can ultimately cost parts of his career, but sometimes things are bigger than yourself. And I definitely respect what he did.

pretty much the four people that inspire me. What about Terrence Crawford? No, not at all. I despise him. So inspiration, despising, just, you know, kind of go together in a way. Well, the reason I'm asking is he obviously had a pretty lively exchange online where... He's a little bit of a hater, Pierce.

He just doesn't like my success. He watches my fights with... He hate watches my fights. Him and his little crew, Shikur, you know, they don't like how successful I am. They don't think I deserve it or whatever they think, but they definitely watch with hate. But, you know, if they dish it out,

they should be able to take it. Well, he dished out a bit. He posted on X. Motherfucker really think I would come back and fight a Cokehead. You're all stupid as shit. To which you replied, you might be the actual crackhead. Once again, I can smell desperate from you.

You have to result in lying on me to make a... point you are a cornball and a liar look around you bud you got money now you're still a lame middle fuck but you got a shitty-ass attitude no one gives a fuck about you because you don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself weirdo go back to living under a rock you are annoying and an arrogant horse it would be fair to say you have a difference of opinion with each other well yeah yeah a little bit but it was the whore part i probably should have kept out that that that part got me but um but not but not I mean, here's the thing.

People always claim, I hate when they lie on me. Like, say whatever you want. Stop lying. I mean, I've never done cocaine in my life. I mean, I see these comments all the time. I've never touched cocaine in my life. I've only drank and smoked weed. That's all I've ever done.

And a few magic mushrooms? Yes, yes, and a few of those. Those are those, yeah. But other than that, nothing, I've never done cocaine. So I just don't like when they lie on that part. But, you know, I like it. If he ever wants to come back, and fight, let's do it.

I mean, we can talk all we want, but, you know, I just feel like he's retired. He should shut the hell up. I mean, why are you talking? If you're retired and enjoy your little vacation, you made a lot of money with Conello and all that. So why don't you just sell off to Turks and Caicos and shut the fuck up?

Because you keep talking all this shit, but it's like, bro, you're not even in the game no more. You're retired. Go enjoy retirement. Leave us alone unless you want to fight. If not, shut up. Do you feel the same way about Canelo Alvarez? Because he used to be pretty tight.

He used to train with them. But you said recently he doesn't have the same intensity you used to have. Well, yeah. I mean, he's at the end of his career. It's hard to keep up that intensity. It's hard to keep up that type of engine you need to face these young fighters. So, I mean, I have the most respect for Conello. We trained under each other.

I trained under him for five years, four years. and I learned a lot from him. So I'm always going to have that level of respect for him. I just think, you know, he is towards the end of his career, and I wish him the best. But if he really, he says he's in it because he loves boxing, and this is his passion. So, you know what, who am I to say to stop, you know?

I mean, he's not retired yet, so keep going. Do you think you'd beat him if he fought him? Yeah, of course. Do you fear anybody in the ring? No, not at all. I feel like I have the talent, the attributes to be anybody. And everybody can say that, you know. Everybody knows that.

They watch me fight and, you know, even if I am the underdog, people know when you're in the ring with me, by no means will it ever be easy, ever. The most bizarre of all the things that you've been involved with, I think, was when you sang along to an orangutan eating grapes in a Mercedes. Let's take a look at that. Was this one of your magic mushroom nights? Ryan?

No, no, no. That's actually me shooting a music video. It was, yeah, it was in Dubai. They actually have a lot of animals that, I don't know, it's just different rules in Dubai, but it was awesome. That oregano-tang could have destroyed me in five seconds. Thank God it didn't.

Then God it ate the grapes, and I survived. How would you like to be remembered? When you hang up your gloves, how would you have to be remembered? How do I want to be remembered? I don't know. I don't really think about that too much, but I would just want people to know that I love life and I love the experience of life,

but I don't really care to be remembered for anything. And, yeah, that's it. When do you think you'll walk away from boxing? I mean, many boxers leave it too late, or they have repeated comebacks. Some, I mean, a friend of mine was Lennox Lewis. he quit and he's never been tempted back despite enormous offers and his legacy in the fight game improves with every year he doesn't fight again.

When you look at people like that who've managed their careers so well, do you have an end point in mind and age when you think that'll be it? You know, when that time comes, I'm sure that everybody knows. All you have to do is be in tune in life and pay attention to, what's going on in the landscape of your career and protect your money and you should know the right time to go. Most of the time people just come back because of money and they could say all the bullshit they want. But at the end of the day, when they know their career is done, they should be done. And the only way you would come back is for money. And what I would say is when the time comes,

I will retire, but I'm always open to making a huge bag against, you know, say a Jake Paul or somebody that's not going to really require much effort. Moses Atalma is one of the great prospects in world boxing, and he came up against an extremely durable opponent in Philip Bogovic last weekend, and in the end got knocked out. I watched that fight, and he won the first eight rounds. Obviously, creditably comfortably, he looked fantastic, but he literally ran out of gas.

Was that just an example? Do you think he can come back from that and be the world champion people thought he would be? What do you think of him as a talent? I think that he had the win in the back. I think experience obviously played a part. And I think he can. I think if he really cares about boxing, he will figure out what exactly went wrong in the lead-up. Because everything is preparation.

You don't lose the fight that night. You lose it, you know, in training in what you did. I seen a couple of his interviews of where his mind was at. It wasn't in the right place if he was speaking from honest words. And I think he always speaks from honest words because listening to his interviews. He said that he said that he's not the best physically nor mentally, but it still should be able to beat Hurtovich. See, that's where things, you know, I don't like that coming from, you know, him as a young fighter. He should always be prepared 100% for whoever it is.

Anything could happen in there. He said he'd ever gone 12 rounds in training. I thought that was an extraordinary admission to make. Yeah, that's, I mean, you're fighting for the World Championship, 12 rounds. You should be able to do 12 rounds. But I think he can still be a world champion. He has all the talent.

He has the speed. He has the power. He has the ferociousness. He just needs to know. how to pace himself for a 12-round fight. You're a heavyweight. You should master the key of pacing yourself. That's why Muhammad Ali was great.

All these fighters, Lennox Lewis, the ones that just shoot off their load, they never do good in heavyweight. You see Mike Tyson, whenever he got past five rounds, six rounds, it was kind of harder for him. So he'll learn. He just needs to figure out and watch the greats on how they did it to be able to become the bat.

If Tyson Fury does get in the ring with Anthony Joshua, and it's a big if, who do you think would win that fight? That's a great one. That's one that I want to see in the UK, by the way. I know there's a lot of debate on that. I'm going to side towards Joshua right now. I think he has a little bit more fight left than Fury. I think Fure is a little bit more checked out than him. And when you come up against Connor Ben at the weekend,

how confident are you? Not that you can just beat him, but you can knock him out? I am extremely confident. The preparation is what makes me so confident. I prepared amazingly, and I'm just better at the game than him. And that's just simple. He's going to be gained. You cannot deny that.

He's going to be coming at me non-stop. but I'm just a little bit more skillful than him. And now I'm super conditioned, so he's gonna have a bad night. You got a round prediction for me? This won't go past five, so it'll be five and below is what I'm calling. Ryan Garcia, we can all watch it on the Zone in the UK. I look forward to Paramount Plus in the US. I look forward to a cracking fight.

I know Connor, I like Connor, I now know you a little bit better, and I like you. So I've made a better. I love you. I love you, Pierce. Thank you, man. See ya. I appreciate it. Great to talk to you.

Thank you for your time. Have a great fight at the weekend. And I hope we're talking again soon. Thank you. Peers Morgan Unsensored is proudly independent. The only boss around here is me. If you enjoy our show, we ask only one simple thing. Hit subscribe on YouTube and follow Pierce Morgan Uncensored on Spotify and AmazonSenseC.

Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And in return, we will continue our mission to inform, irritate and entertain. And we'll do it all for free. Independent, uncensored media has never been more critical, and we couldn't do it without you.