Conor Benn admitted he must be “not right in the head” after completing a gruelling 34lb weight cut for his WBC world title fight against Ryan Garcia.
The 29-year-old returned to the welterweight division in Las Vegas after contesting two lucrative middleweight bouts with Chris Eubank Jr at 160lb.
Benn revealed he had been close to 180lb before beginning the process of returning to the 147lb limit. He stepped on the scales at 146lb, while Garcia weighed 145lb shortly afterwards.
Despite his privileged upbringing as the son of British boxing legend Nigel Benn, the Essex fighter insisted doubts over whether he deserved his opportunities had driven him throughout his career.
“I don’t have to box,” Benn said. “I was raised in a mansion and went to private school. Do I have to box? No.
“It isn’t a rags-to-riches story, I haven’t clawed my way up out of the mud. There’s been no poverty or hardship.
“But everyone writing me off, because of my dad, lit the fire in me and fuelled it. It’s not a good fuel, it’s not nice.
“But I have exceeded everything that I thought I could do and where I could go.
Conor Benn admitted he must be “not right in the head” after completing a gruelling 34lb weight cut for his WBC world title fight against Ryan Garcia
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“I box because I am not mentally sane. I cannot be right in the head.”
Benn entered the professional ranks with limited amateur experience and immediately secured a place on an Anthony Joshua pay-per-view undercard, helped by his father’s famous name.
His career has since divided British boxing fans. Benn improved considerably under trainer Tony Sims but did not pursue domestic honours before becoming embroiled in a lengthy doping case involving two findings for clomifene. The case was eventually resolved in his favour.
His two blockbuster encounters with Eubank Jr, which produced one defeat and one victory, transformed Benn into a multimillionaire and secured his opportunity against Garcia.
Conor Benn insists the pressure is on Ryan Garcia ahead of their boxing fight this evening
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The unbeaten American is the bookmakers’ favourite, but Benn believes being underestimated has become a familiar feature of his rapid rise.
“The public has to have opinions, otherwise it would be boring,” he said.
“The pressure is on Ryan, I had 20 amateur bouts and have just worked hard.
“It has not been easy getting here, at the age of 19 if I had predicted all of this, I would have been put in a straight jacket.”
Garcia attempted to unsettle his British opponent by revisiting the egg controversy that surrounded Benn’s doping saga.
After being prevented from bringing eggs into the press conference, Garcia ate a hard-boiled one on stage.
Conor Benn is confident he can topple Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas
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“He is very familiar with eggs so I thought I would eat some of them today,” Garcia joked.
“He’s already been slapped with an egg before so I can’t do that again. But if he does anything stupid or crazy he will get slapped.”
Benn, however, remains focused on completing a famous upset and bringing Garcia’s WBC belt back to Britain.
“I am here to take the belt home,” he declared. “I want to give the fans the fights they want. I want to entertain and give value for money.”
