Chris Algieri, stopped by Conor Benn in 2021 and now a sports nutritionist, was not impressed with his former opponent as he was beaten by Ryan Garcia on Saturday.
England’s Benn had traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to take on WBC welterweight champion Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena. A lot was expected of Benn, a marquee signing for Zuffa Boxing, but the Briton was outclassed from the off.
Garcia had no respect for what was in front of him, cracking Benn with power shots from the opening bell and eventually flooring the challenger with an overhand right in the second. The referee Thomas Taylor then stopped the contest moments later as Benn took repeated blows while lying on the ropes.
Algieri, who lost to Benn when in the twilight of his career and a year before Benn tested positive for the banned substance clomifene, was left disappointed with what he saw.
“Benn looked absolute shit,” Algieri told BoxingScene. “He looked slow. He looked small. He looked smaller than Ryan. And he outweighed him, apparently, by 20 pounds. And they made all this hoopla about the weight going into the fight. He gained 30 pounds. He gets in the ring. He looks small. He looks slow. And he had zero power. Zero power.
“Benn has shown with this performance, and basically his last performance, too – he didn’t look good against [Regis] Prograis [in April] either. The world-class level, he’s just not ready for it. And this opportunity that he got to fight for a world title was way too soon. And I don’t think he gets another shot again. I don’t think he’s there. I don’t think he ever earned it.”
There were some observers of Saturday’s bout that believe the referee Taylor stopped the contest prematurely. However, there were no complaints from Benn at the finish.
“Benn was saved by the referee,” said Algieri. “Ryan Garcia said [before the fight], ‘I hope this guy gets out of here safe because he doesn’t know what he’s in for.’ 100 per cent. That was the truth. And if Thomas Taylor didn’t step in when he did – which I thought was a little early, but Benn did not complain – he was going to end up face down snoring, because he had zero defense once he got hit with that right hand. I mean, zero defense all night long. But once that punch landed, he didn’t want to be there.”
There are those that point to Benn making the 147lb weight limit for the first time in four years as an excuse for the Englishman’s poor performance. Algieri, however, is not convinced.
“There’s going to be people like, ‘He was dead at the weight, that’s why he couldn’t take the punch.’ No, he was getting hit immediately,” he said. “As soon as Ryan let his hands go, the first left hook he threw, it was a super-wide left hook, landed right on the button. Boom. Right in the face. Boom. Middle of the face. Zero defense. The uppercuts that he was throwing from a mile away all landed. There was zero defense.
“So let’s not go with, ‘Oh, he was weight drained. That’s why his chin wasn’t there.’ No, he had zero defense. He was getting hit by absolutely everything. And Ryan can punch. Ryan’s fast and he’s got heavy hands… So I think any question about Ryan’s power at 147 has been answered. Any question about Benn’s ability to compete at the world-class level has been answered at 147. He said himself, he’s not fighting at 147 anymore. So that’s completely been answered in every way possible.”
Following Benn hitting the scales at 146lbs on Friday at the weigh-in, a video was posted on social media appearing to show Benn weighing 178.4lbs just 12 hours later. Algieri, a qualified sports nutritionist who has worked with professional boxers to aid making weight, insisted fighters negatively impact performance by putting so much weight on after a weigh-in.
“It’s definitely possible [Benn gained 32lbs in 12 hours]. I’ve seen it,” said Algieri. “But it’s funny because I made a prediction prior to the weigh-in on my podcast. And I said, you know what? I think Benn is durable enough that he’s going to make it to the end. Once I saw that he gained that much weight, I was like, ‘No, he’s getting stopped.’
“People think bigger is better. It’s not. So I work in sports science, sports nutrition. I have been involved with studies where we tested fighters in terms of their weigh-in weight and their fight weight. And there’s a very distinct threshold about when diminishing returns show up. When you gain too much weight, you actually decrease your performance.”
Benn had announced prior to facing Garcia that it would be his final contest at welterweight and he would be moving up to 160 or 168lbs. Although Algieri thinks the higher weight classes will be a better fit for Benn, the chances of winning a world title are slim.
“He’s done his job. [Benn has got] a famous dad, Hall of Famer, fantastic fighter. I will never knock Nigel Benn,” said Algieri. “Nigel was awesome. Fucking awesome. He’s not his dad. He’ll never be his dad. He’s already proven that. But he did his job. He went out there, it would have been great if he could have got a world championship. That would have been the icing on the cake, the cherry on top.
“He’s never going to be world champion and this was his only shot. He’s not going to fight at welterweight anymore. He has no place at 154. 160 I think would be a good move for him.
“I think the weight is definitely an issue. I think he’s better off higher. But can he compete with anyone at 168? No. Other than Chris Eubank Jnr [who Benn battled to a win and a loss in 2025] – I actually don’t think he beats him either at 168. If Eubank’s not dead on the weight, I don’t think he beats him. Eubank is just a better boxer. 160 was weak, it’s not anymore.
“Guys are moving up into the weight class. You got Jesus Ramos Jnr. He’s good. He can fight. He’s big. You got Xander Zayas. You’re not beating Xander Zayas. Zayas is going to be the guy at 160. And Vergil Ortiz is now at 160, apparently. So what are you going to do with a guy like that? I don’t know.
“So I think a path to a world title is probably out of reality. But there’s other money fights. He still has his name. He still has already made a lot of money.”
