Saturday night’s Las Vegas headline act is very much an acquired taste.
And no, before you get excited, we’re not talking Donny Osmond crooning about lovestruck puppies, or Penn and Teller vanishing your mother-in-law into thin air — we’re talking a WBC welterweight title fight between two blokes who’d much rather audition for Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll.
Advertisement
It’s Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn at the T-Mobile Arena, and headlines — good, bad or gloriously unhinged — are guaranteed to come raining down on these two 147-pound bundles of personality.
But there’s plenty else to look forward to in the fight game this weekend. Let’s dig into the top five.
1. Garcia and Benn roll the dice in Las Vegas
Two of boxing’s best-sellers collide in “Sin City” on Saturday night, both with intentions of showcasing the green and gold of the WBC’s welterweight title long into the Vegas night.
As we’ve become accustomed to with Conor Benn fights, weight is a big talking point.
Advertisement
After muscling his way up to middleweight to take on family rival Chris Eubank Jr. in back-to-back lucrative bouts, Benn is dropping back down 13 pounds to 147, a painful process even for the most dedicated fighters.
Garcia’s past two fights have come comfortably under the welterweight limit. His fast hands and dangerous left hook are his biggest weapons, and in Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), Benn is facing the best natural fighter of his 10-year pro career.
But Garcia is unpredictable. The version we see of “King Ry” this weekend will determine the result. If he’s not at the races, a fighter with the size, spirit, balls and willingness to trade like Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) could have plenty of success.
Advertisement
2. Opetaia vs. Mikaelian vs. Don King in cruiserweight confusion
This week started with Don King sending a cease and desist letter to TKO Group, attempting to block this Saturday’s cruiserweight co-main between Jai Opetaia and Noel Mikaelian.
At the time of writing, Opetaia (30-0, 20 KOs) is still scheduled to defend his Zuffa cruiserweight title against two-time WBC champion Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, supporting Garcia and Benn’s main event, despite the best efforts of a disgruntled 95-year-old promoter.
Jai Opetaia keeps finding himself in fight week headlines for the wrong reasons.
(Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy via Getty Images)
It’s not the first time King has decided to throw the proverbial cat among the proverbial pigeons. As recently as last year, he torpedoed Jarrell Miller vs. Michael Hunter at the eleventh hour, before then holding Christopher Lovejoy’s career hostage.
Advertisement
Money talks, and this will probably resolve itself. The biggest loser? The fighters.
This story has dwarfed any pre-fight hype and analysis between two guys at the top of the cruiserweight division, and will probably do so long after Saturday’s final bell has tolled.
3. Santillan vs. Baraou headlines Friday’s ProBoxTV offering
It’s a sign of Giovani Santillan’s competitive nature — and wider understanding of boxing’s cruel terrain — that he, himself, has labelled Friday night’s super welterweight clash with Abass Baraou (17-2, 9 KOs) with such importance.
Santillan, 34, looks to continue his three-fight win streak since dropping his first career loss to Brian Norman Jr. in 2024, headlining inside Oceanside, California’s Frontwave Arena on ProBoxTV’s Friday night offering.
Advertisement
“This is a very meaningful fight for me — the importance is huge,” Santillan (35-1 18 KOs) told The Ring. “I’ve been wanting another opportunity like this ever since losing to Brian Norman. I plan on taking full advantage of this, because everything is on the line for my career.”
The San Diego southpaw is a big underdog (+275) with the bookmakers, looking to stifle the momentum of a German challenger who pushed Xander Zayas to the brink in a split decision loss back in January.
The vacant WBO Intercontinental strap is on the line here, in a winner-stays-on clash at 154 pounds.
4. A real pick’em between Magsayo and Cortes
Zuffa Boxing promised us 50/50 fights, and in Mark Magsayo vs. Andres Cortes, it has delivered.
Advertisement
Saturday night’s 10-round lightweight encounter highlights two 135-pounders at similar stages of their careers trying to break into title opportunities in a famed weight class.
For Magsayo (29-2, 19 KOs), it’s an opportunity to showcase his talents after contractual frustrations with PBC saw his career stall, limited to just one fight in 2025.
I spoke with the 31-year-old Filipino back in 2022 as he prepared to defend his WBC featherweight title against Rey Vargas; back then, money was still on his mind, something that Zuffa Boxing is well-positioned to aid with as he approaches his second fight under the banner.
“Most Filipinos are born into poverty and are expected to have to fight to survive,” he explained then. “I’ve been lucky enough to have success and help my family, but not all are as fortunate. I’ve been able to buy my father his own bakery and my brother his own sari-sari store — a typical convenience store in the Philippines — and I’m not finished yet.”
Advertisement
A win over the unbeaten Cortes (25-0, 13 KOs) this weekend would be a big feather in Magsayo’s cap, and cement his status as one of Zuffa’s new moneymakers.
5. Big Stacks and Ibiza Final Boss? That’s right: Misfits is back
I wouldn’t usually go out of my way to tune into a Misfits Boxing press conference, but there I was on Thursday flicking through YouTube, and I was drawn into this weird and — to some — wonderful world.
Some of the names on this show are akin to those random-name calculators. You know: “Your movie star name is the month you were born in and the color pants you’re wearing.”
Advertisement
(May Black for all of you wondering …)
Anyway, we have Big Stacks, Ibiza Final Boss, Nitboy, Kimbo Bimbo, Kelz and Kane West all in action on Saturday night, as Misfits Boxing takes over the Newcastle Arena in England.
The main event sees a heavyweight grudge match between Jordan McCann and Big Stacks. And they’ve got beef.
In June, Stacks was busy trading words with Shane Fury — brother to Tyson — right before McCann landed a punch that did some damage and turned his fight with Armz Korleone into a body-shots-only affair. Riveting stuff.
He went on to lose to Korleone by stoppage anyway, which, sure, happens — but Stacks is now out here promising the performance of a lifetime whenever he finally gets his hands on McCann.
We’ll believe it when we see it.
Read the full article here