Frank Smith believes Ryan Garcia represents a different level of challenge to Conor Benn, and says the undefeated welterweight contender is headed for the toughest fight of his career if the proposed clash goes ahead.
Matchroom CEO Smith discussed the bout while in Egypt for Saturday’s heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven.
“Yes, I think today will be the toughest fight of his career,” Smith told talkSport Boxing. “One thing about Conor Benn, as much as my views have changed personally, he trains very hard. He’ll give it his all. It’s going to be a great fight, and it’s going to be an entertaining fight, I’m sure.”
“However, I think Ryan Garcia is undoubtedly another level to the opponents he’s been with in terms of levels,” Smith said. “But I can’t write Conor off. I’m not going to sit here and write him off in that fight because he’s going to go out there. It changes his life.”
TalkSport host Simon Jordan also questioned whether Benn was finally entering what he described as a “real fight”.
“He’s going into what I think is a real struggle for him,” Jordan said while discussing the proposed matchup with Smith.
Smith admitted the fight would have appealed to Matchroom if Benn was still with the company.
“Obviously, if we were still promoting Conor Benn, that would obviously be a fight we would target,” Smith said.
The matchup between Benn and Garcia has been hotly debated in recent weeks following Garcia’s rise to welterweight and Benn’s move to bigger commercial fights after leaving Matchroom.
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Last updated on 2026/05/21 at 22:47
