Terence Crawford suspects Ryan Garcia could lose his WBC title later this year, depending on whether he faces a physically superior opponent.
The 27-year-old claimed his world welterweight title in February, dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory after scoring a first-round knockdown.
In doing so, Garcia returned to the win column after suffering a points defeat to Rolando Romero, which followed his no-contest against Devin Haney in April 2024.
Sandwiched between those two results was, of course, his year-long doping ban, but now it seems the American has rediscovered some measure of form.
Hoping to build on this momentum, Garcia is likely to defend his title against mandatory challenger Conor Benn, potentially in Las Vegas on September 12.
Like Garcia, Benn was previously embroiled in a doping scandal but has since been involved in two middleweight encounters with Chris Eubank Jr, losing their first contest before scoring a unanimous decision victory last November.
The 29-year-old then unanimously outpointed a faded Regis Prograis this past April, dominating their 10-rounder at a catchweight of 150lbs.
Given his apparent size advantage, Crawford has told Ariel Helwani that he could see Benn pulling off an upset victory over Garcia later this year.
“I think that’s a good fight. I think, of course, Ryan’s got the experience, but Conor’s got the size and the power.
“I think it’s gonna be an interesting fight … I’mma go with Conor. I think he’s gonna upset him. I’m gonna go out there and pick him.”
While Benn has been competing at higher weights in his last five outings, he does not appear significantly bigger than Garcia, who matches him for height and is perhaps even a bigger puncher.
