The WBC world welterweight title fight between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn will officially happen on September 12th in Las Vegas. The confirmation announcement Wednesday afternoon also has a broadcasting twist- Paramount+ will stream the fight for its subscribers everywhere but the U.K.
The WBC welterweight world title fight between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn is officially set for September 12 in Las Vegas. The announcement, made Wednesday afternoon, also revealed a broadcast surprise, as Paramount+ will stream the fight for subscribers worldwide, excluding the United Kingdom.
From the official announcement from Paramount,
"Paramount+ and Zuffa Boxing announced today that Ryan Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) will put his welterweight world title on the line against England's Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) on September 12 over Mexican Independence Day Weekend, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The entire Garcia vs. Benn card will stream exclusively on Paramount+ at no additional cost to subscribers worldwide (excluding UK & Ireland.)
“This is such a great fight,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White. “Conor Benn has won 26 of his 27 professional fights and is coming off a big win in the U.K. earlier this year. Ryan Garcia is one of the biggest stars in boxing and a world champion. These guys are in their prime, and it’s a fight they’ve both wanted for a long time. They’ll come face-to-face for the first time today before stepping into the ring on September 12 during Mexican Independence Day weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The energy in that place will be incredible.”
As we wrote previously, Garcia had revealed earlier in June on the NBC "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" that the fight would be on September 12th and "in Vegas."
And, after significant haggling and negotiating and with Oscar De La Hoya sending a "cease and desist" letter to TKO Promotions, Dana White and Turki Alashikh for trying to exclude DAZN from being involved in the fight, the deal crossed the finish line this week.
Dana White gave a social media promotion from the signing,
The fighters were actually on hand in Las Vegas for an anticipated announcement of the deal being finalized last Friday at the UFC weigh-in for the Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway fight.
However, that never happened adding to the intrigue on whether the fight might fall apart?
Alas, they were able to agree with the bout not being on PPV in the United States, but rather on the standard Paramount+ subscription. It's not clear from the release if the fight will be a PPV for DAZN in Benn's home of England and also Scotland?
Garcia and Benn were expected to be part of the Wednesday night ceremonial weigh-in and publicity for UFC 329 in Las Vegas. It's also possible that they will take part in the new massive fan and media event for Fanatics in New York, this weekend. Though, that is not confirmed.
The popular Garcia captured the WBC world welterweight crown in February with a tremendous win over champ Mario Barrios. He dropped Barrios early in the fight and out boxed him for 12 rounds for an easy decision win.
As for Benn, he signed with Zuffa Boxing earlier this year and fought and won a decision over Regis Prograis on the Tyson Fury main event card in April. Benn, the son of hall of famer Nigel Benn, is in search of his first world title.
