Conor Benn’s weight cut for Garcia fight is ‘EXTREME’, but his chin & cardio should hold up, says elite sports doctor

BOXING fans are fearing the worst for Conor Benn ahead of his return to welterweight.

‘The Destroyer’, 29, will look to rip the WBC’s 147lbs belt from champion Ryan Garcia‘s clutches in Las Vegas early on Sunday morning in his first-ever world title fight.

The bout will be Benn’s first at the weight in FOUR YEARS, with his pair of cross-generational family grudge matches against Chris Eubank Jr taking place at 160lbs and his Tottenham tussle with Regis Prograis being a 150lbs catchweight.

Benn’s meticulousness with his diet and training regimen ahead of his maiden title tilt has resulted in him looking lean and mean ahead of the Sin City shootout.

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The stark contrast between his face and physique at 147lbs to when he fights at 160lbs, however, has sparked serious concerns from many fight fans.

Many believe he’s already too “weight-drained” ahead of his final grind down to the championship mark and is at an increased risk of being knocked out by slick and speedy counterpuncher Garcia.

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Garcia vs Benn – all the info

Ryan Garcia will make the first defence of his WBC welterweight title against British superstar Conor Benn THIS Saturday.

The blockbuster Las Vegas event is under the arm of Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing promotion.

Garcia, 28, captured his first world title in February by securing a dominant unanimous decision victory over Mario Barrios.

Benn, 29, is challenging for a world title for the first time in his professional career.

His sole professional defeat came against domestic rival Chris Eubank Jr in April 2025, a loss he quickly avenged with a dominant unanimous decision victory in their November 2025 rematch.

Benn enters the biggest bout of his life following a decisive points win over former world champion Regis Prograis in April, which marked his debut under Zuffa Boxing.

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“But I think extreme means a few different things. I think extreme, for me; I’ve seen people dehydrate six kilos in the bath to make a lighter weight than he’s making.

“So, from a safety perspective, I think we all have to be aware that, with him going into fight week, the numbers seem safe.

“They seem in a good place; he’s very unlikely to miss weight. And it looks like he’s not dehydrating himself.

“And he said he wants to be able to make this weight healthy, and I assume that’s the way they’ve gone with it.”

Much of the narrative surrounding Benn’s gruelling cut to 147lbs has centred around the physical aspect.

“How will he rehydrate?” “Will he gas out?” “Will his chin be compromised?”

Those are all very valid questions to be asking ahead of his date with destiny.

But as Aspinall has seen first-hand many times, the psychological aspect of Benn’s cut, particularly the unknown of how he’ll perform at his traditional weight, having had such a long hiatus from the division, is just as big a concern.

He continued: “For the Eubank Jr fight, he knew exactly how he was going to feel. For this one, he’s not sure.

“And sparring feels very different to fighting, especially after the weight cut.

“So, assuming he gets back to weight, he’s going to get in there safely; arguably in a better position than Eubank Jr when Eubank Jr fought him with the rehydration clauses.

“So he kind of gets, like, the shoe’s on the other foot. Except I think Eubank Jr probably had it harder overall.

“The bottom line, I suppose, is that it looks extreme. It’s on the more extreme end, but it’s safe.

“But I always worry physically and mentally if you’ve never done a big weight cut like this before and you don’t know how your body responds to doing it.

“How are you going to feel? And that, I think, is a big factor.”

The history of combat sports is littered with fighters whose chins have been compromised by heavy weight cuts.

But after a deep dive into how Benn has performed his first welterweight cut since before he sparked out Chris van Heerden in April 2022, Aspinall doesn’t believe that will be the case for the Greenwich gladiator.

He said: “If you ever see a fighter classed as chinny, normally it’s after a really big water cut or dehydration.

“Fair play to Eubank Jr, because we didn’t see him chinny. But the effects of the water cut were evident in his fight [with Benn].

“The numbers reported show us that he’s going into this with minimal dehydration. So the risk of him being chinny, I think, is quite low.

“He should dehydrate a very safe amount, by the looks of it.

‘Meaning, as long as the rehydration is effective – which I’m assuming it is; we never know, but we’re assuming it is, he should be fully hydrated.

“So chinniness and gassing out again are probably minimal. However, if the numbers are wrong and he is dehydrating a lot, that’s where the chinniness comes in.

“If he’s dehydrating seven, eight per cent and above, the rehydration becomes a lot harder.