Frank Smith believes Ryan Garcia represents a unique level of challenge for Conor Benn, saying the unbeaten welterweight contender is heading into the hardest fight of his profession if the proposed clash moves forward.
Matchroom CEO Smith discussed the matchup while in Egypt for Saturday’s heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven.
“Yeah, I believe it can be the toughest fight of his profession today,” said Smith to talkSport Boxing. “One thing about Conor Benn, as much as my views could have modified personally, he trains very hard. He’ll give it his all. It’s going to be an awesome fight, and it can be an entertaining fight, I’m sure.”
“I believe Ryan Garcia, though, arguably is one other level to the opponents he’s been in with when it comes to levels,” Smith said. “But I can’t write Conor off. I’m not going to sit down here and write him off in that fight because he’s going to go on the market. This changes his life.”
TalkSport host Simon Jordan also questioned whether Benn is finally entering into what he described as a “real fight.”
“He’s going to enter what I consider to be an actual fight for him,” Jordan said while discussing the proposed matchup with Smith.
Smith admitted the fight would have appealed to Matchroom had Benn still been with the corporate.
“In fact, if we were still promoting Conor Benn, after all, that may be a fight that we might goal,” Smith said.
The matchup between Benn and Garcia has been heavily discussed in recent weeks following Garcia’s rise at welterweight and Benn’s move into larger business fights after leaving Matchroom.
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Last Updated on 2026/05/21 at 10:47 PM