LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Ryan Garcia looks primed to enter the pound-for-pound top ten after a devastating second round knockout of Conor Benn to successfully defend the WBC welterweight title on pro boxing’s unofficial holiday, Mexican Independence Day weekend, in the main event of a nine-bout card broadcast by Paramount+ from the T-Mobile Arena.
Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) of Los Angeles, California looked determined to make it a short night early as Benn (25-2, 14 KOs) of Ilford, Essex, United Kingdom may have caught him at the height of his powers, settled in the 147-pound version of his body.
Garcia, 145 ½, was full of frantic energy in the first, but he made Benn, 146, take a backwards step with the first leaping left hook he landed. Benn, the WBC #1 ranked welterweight, came forward, but Garcia showed a willingness to exchange.
Benn started the second landing before Garcia immediately took over and ended the fight. With Benn coming forward, Garcia landed a picture perfect right to drop Britain’s welterweight hopeful.
Benn got to his feet, but was clearly not well. Garcia moved in with his hands going and landed in combination with Benn against the ropes. Not seeing Benn answer back, referee Thomas Taylor moved in and stopped the onslaught at 1:25 of round two.
“I am blessed to fight on this day, Mexican Independence Day,” said Garcia in the immediate aftermath. “I know some of you don’t see me as Mexican because I don’t speak Spanish. But I have a place for you in my heart and Viva Mexico!”
Garcia went on to call out Teofimo Lopez, seated ringside. “If you want to get crazy, I’ll beat your ass right now,” Garcia shouted towards Lopez before calling out Devin Haney, also seated ringside, for a rematch.
Widely regarded as the best cruiserweight in the world, Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia cemented that position with a ninth-round stoppage of Noel Mikaelian (28-4, 12 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of Yerevan, Armenia, who entered the week as the WBC champion.
A feeling out first round featured an accidental headbutt, with Mikaelian, 200, coming forward to land the right against the southpaw Opetaia.
Opetaia, the WBC #1/WBA #1/IBF #3 ranked cruiserweight, had a left eye showing some signs of swelling in the second round from the Mikaelian right.
Mikaelian was warned after throwing late to end the third, something he had done less egregiously to end the second as well.
Opetaia, 199, upped his aggression in the fourth and some of the punches that had missed by inches earlier were beginning to land with more regularity.
By the sixth Mikaelian was moving more, but when Opetaia got in close he found a home for some body work and tried to mix in some punches upstairs.
Mikaelian found some success early in the seventh, countering with a stiff right, before Opetaia turned the tide back late in the round with some well-placed punches on the inside.
Opetaia got some payback for the late punches earlier in the fight, landing two low in succession in the eighth, which prompted a timeout.
The fight came to its dramatic conclusion in the ninth. With Mikaelian holding him, Opetaia landed with an overhand right that had the Armenian out on his feet. Opetaia then let go with a left hook and broke free with his right hand to land a combination that forced Mikaelian out against the ropes, but still on his feet. Referee Harvey Dock ruled it a knockdown, but waved off the bout after a short word with Mikaelian. The time of stoppage was 1:36 of the ninth.
All three official judges had Opetaia ahead 79-73 at the time of the stoppage.
With the win, Opetaia retained the Ring Magazine and Zuffa cruiserweight titles. More importantly to fight fans, Opetaia welcomed the main challenger to his throne David Benavidez into the ring post-fight and both made clear their intentions for a fight to clear up who is the kingpin at 200 pounds.
U.S. heavyweight prospect Da’Mazion Vanhouter (13-0, 10 KOs) of Saint Petersburg, Florida made brutally short work of Raphael Akpejiori (19-4, 18 KOs) of Miami by way of Lagos, Nigeria, scoring two knockdowns en route to a first-round stoppage.
Vanhouter, 231 ½, hurt Akpejiori, 246, early and often. Vanhouter caught Akpejiori with an overhand right that immediately staggered the 6’8” Nigerian. When Vanhouter followed with a right uppercut, Akpejiori went down for the first time. Akpejiori was able to buy a little time when Vanhouter’s right arm was caught in an awkward position as the Nigerian leaned over with all his weight. Despite the scare, Vanhouter moved right back into position, ultimately landing with the right uppercut once more and two overhand rights to put Akpejiori down again. Referee Robert Hoyle immediately called off the fight at 1:58 of round one.
In the opening bout of the main card, longtime contender Andres Cortes (26-0, 13 KOs) of Las Vegas may have moved back to the doorstep of the marquee fight that has eluded him to this point of his career by scoring a wide ten-round unanimous decision over former featherweight champion Mark Magsayo (29-3, 19 KOs) of Las Vegas by way of Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines.
Cortes, 135, began the fight strong, landing to the body of Magsayo, 134 ½, and forcing the Filipino to hold on along the ropes.
Magsayo, the IBF #6/WBO #9/WBC #10 ranked lightweight, began to turn up the output in the second. The Filipino found Cortes, the WBC #11/WBA #12/WBO #13 ranked lightweight, willing to mix it up and slip in his power right hand.
Cortes was originally credited with a knockdown in the third with a right to the body of Magsayo. It appeared that Magsayo, who was already hunched over, believed a break may have been called and collapsed on his own accord. Referee Celestino Ruiz saw fit to call the knockdown, the first of two he ruled as such, but were overturned officially by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Cortes would again appear to have scored a knockdown late in the fourth. The Las Vegas native clubbed Magsayo with an overhand right that forced the Filipino to a knee. Magsayo did not appear hurt, but did appear a bit off track over the first half of the fight and would make several other voluntary trips to the canvas, none of which were scored as knockdowns.
Magsayo shifted his tactics by the seventh, potshotting Cortes and trying to get out of the way of any return fire. Despite finding Magsayo a more elusive target, Cortes still found a hole for some stiff right hands in the round.
The pace slowed in the latter rounds. Cortes, comfortable with his lead on the cards, was more restrained with his offense. For his part, Magsayo did not press like a fighter wanting to win and digging out of a two knockdown hole.
After a tenth in which neither fighter showed urgency, all three judges scored the bout unanimously for the still undefeated Cortes. Judges Don Trella, Glenn Feldman and Tim Cheatham all scored the bout 97-93 for Cortes, who now has fellow Zuffa Boxing fighter Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela in his sights.
Find the results of the preliminary undercard here
Photos by Al Powers/Zuffa Boxing and Ed Mulholland/Zuffa Boxing
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com