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A performative Ryan Garcia shouted, repeatedly swore and even ate a boiled egg, while Briton Conor Benn kept his cool, during a peculiar news conference in Las Vegas. American Garcia defends his WBC welterweight belt against 29-year-old Benn at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
A fight week which had been relatively quiet finally came to life on Thursday, thanks largely to the unpredictable champion. While Garcia, 28, bounced between insults, threats and jokes, Benn remained relatively composed.
Benn spoke instead about giving supporters "value for money" and refused to be drawn into many of his rival's taunts. "All the talking, tweeting, typing and streaming is done, I'm ready to fight," Benn said, while inexplicably wearing a bullet-proof style vest.
Garcia is one of boxing's biggest social media stars, with more than 13 million Instagram followers. He recently appeared on WWE's Monday Night Raw and it did not take long for the news conference to take on a similarly theatrical feel.
Minutes after taking his seat, Garcia reached into a bag, pulled out the egg, calmly peeled it and ate it whole. "He has a lot of familiarity with eggs so I thought I'd eat some," Garcia said, as hi s opponent's father, Nigel Benn, shook his head.
It was a reference to Benn's two positive tests for clomifene in 2022 and the WBC's subsequent ruling that elevated consumption of eggs could provide a reasonable explanation. Adding to the bizarre atmosphere, Garcia said his egg was a bit dry and would benefit from some honey.
Garcia has also served a doping suspension after testing positive for ostarine following his 2024 fight with Devin Haney. Both fighters have denied knowingly taking banned substances.
Before the face-off, security confiscated an egg Garcia had tucked into his pocket, potentially preventing a repeat of last year's incident when Chris Eubank Jr slapped Benn across the face with one.
Benn and Garcia had to be separated at their launch event in New York in July, but there was no repeat this time. As Garcia continued talking, Benn put a finger to his lips, smiled and eventually turned away and left the stage.
Thursday's news conference was held inside Saturday's fight venue, with one section of T-Mobile Arena curtained off for the crowd. Fans had begun queuing more than an hour before the doors opened.
It was not a Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez-sized crowd, and far from anything like the travelling support Ricky Hatton once brought to Las Vegas, but there was still a healthy turnout.
Small pockets of travelling British supporters made themselves heard, while Garcia received a much louder but mixed reception.
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