In just 4 minutes, Ryan Garcia blew down the house of cards Conor Benn spent a decade carefully constructing

Less than four minutes into his first shot at a world championship, Conor Benn was kneeling in the middle of the ring, staring down at a sweat-sodden, blood-stained canvas.

The Briton had been floored and was attempting to recover from a destructive right hand delivered by his adversary and defending WBC welterweight champion, Ryan Garcia, sending a pro-Garcia crowd of 18,855 into hysterics on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

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After all, you visit “Sin City” for a good time, not a long time.

And those inside the T-Mobile Arena barely had time to catch their breath before they were given exactly what they had come for — the spectacular toppling of the brash son of British boxing royalty.

After staggering to his feet, pinned to the ropes and attempting to take cover from a flurry of Garcia attacks, Benn was eventually saved from further punishment, confirming the second defeat on a record that will now come under more scrutiny than ever.

Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) was paraded around the ring, proudly showcasing the right hand that had done the damage, while Benn (25-2, 14 KOs) licked his wounds. Slumped over the top rope, staring through the assembled ringside stars, the Essex man looked like a broken figure.

For a fighter who has spent so long trying to escape his father’s shadow, his future in the sport suddenly flashed before his eyes.

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Benn’s first step up to world level — in an attempt to claim a version of the title his Hall of Famer father, Nigel Benn, held last in 1996 — ended in disaster; the house of cards he and his team had so carefully built over his 10-year pro career, blown clean off the table.

“The Destroyer” destroyed. 

But should it have been that much of a surprise?

Benn’s career has burned fast since he debuted on the Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin card in 2016. Headlines were always going to follow given his revered lineage, but signs of his shortcomings were evident just a year into his professional journey, when he scraped past Cedrick Peynaud in a life-and-death points victory.

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Benn was dropped and hurt twice in the opening round of the welterweight six-rounder, yet controversially emerged victorious thanks to a pair of questionable scorecards. The rebuild began eight months later, when he rematched the Frenchman and produced a far more convincing performance over 10 rounds. Five stoppages across his next eight bouts suggested he had found his power — his “man strength” — and the momentum began to build.

Of course, those victories — particularly the wins over Chris Algieri and Chris van Heerden — were subsequently stained by failed drug tests for the banned substance clomifene.

His return to competition was followed by two back-to-back bouts with family rival Chris Eubank Jr., splitting wins across a pair of fights fought at middleweight. Benn emerged with his reputation intact, but the route to world level remained remarkably short.

Heading into Saturday night, he had never fought for a British or European title. There were no traditional stepping stones. No gradual education against increasingly dangerous opposition. Instead, his self-confidence and a lucrative surname convinced him he held the cards to go all in, placing himself on the biggest stages before he had built the experience to survive them.

Eventually, the house had to withstand a storm. Instead, Garcia’s tornado tore straight through the center of it, and Benn was bamboozled by the champion’s fast hands just seconds into the contest. The difference in levels was immediately clear.

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Benn, who still had a pound of weight to spare after squeezing down to 146 pounds — one shy of the 147-pound limit — had banked on being the bigger, stronger, more physical welterweight. His viral rehydration had seen him weigh a reported 178 pounds (clothed) just 10 hours after weighing in, but none of that mattered once the bell rang.

Garcia was simply too fast, too sharp, too accurate. Too good.

“It went kind of exactly how I imagined it,” Garcia told the assembled press post-fight. And in hindsight, it’s how most of the patrons in attendance should have, too. 

“I started hitting him,” he added. “I was like, ‘Oh wow, I’m already timing him.’ And then the second round I said, ‘I’m just going to stand my ground a little bit. I’m going to get my respect real quick.’

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“And then when I did, I ended up knocking him out.”

Benn has a multi-fight contract with Zuffa Boxing and will likely receive a lucrative comeback fight. As he said himself, the next chapter is likely to begin at 160 pounds. Perhaps that is where Benn finally finds out what remains when the weight cuts, the expectations and his father’s shadow are stripped away.

For now, though, he has a very different kind of rebuilding job ahead of him. He’s in too deep to row back to shallower waters. His career has been all in on deception, so why would — should — that stop now?

A trilogy with Eubank Jr. will always be on the table for Benn. Eubank was quick to stick the knife in post-fight on social media, posting, “Welcome to the ‘fighting after cutting too much weight’ club… Enjoy.”

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And perhaps that is the most obvious route left for Benn. If he cannot outrun his father’s shadow, he might as well step back into the one rivalry that has defined his career.

Because in Las Vegas, Garcia and the house won. And Benn doesn’t have enough chips left to keep playing at the top table.