Ryan Garcia didn’t just knock out Conor Benn with a right hand — he set it up with a deceptive left jab that baited Benn into the perfect counterpunching range.
It’s the setting the traps for your opponent that they do not see coming that often hurt them the most.
The ones they don’t see coming hit them like a lot of bricks in the moment of landing them.
Ryan Garcia utlized this on Saturday using an overextended jab as he had been stepping back and then, planted his feet, launching the overhand right hand.
Connecting on the head of Benn perfectly;
- Garcia used a repeated left hook early to condition Benn’s reactions early on the fight
- The left hook was his signature punch, so Benn anticipated it, he had been maybe a bit to preoccupied on being concerned at the Garcia left hook
- This lulled him into a false sense of security, he had not been thinking about the Garcia right hand too much as a result
- When Benn pulled back, he was positioned for the overhand right
- The false lead using the Ryan Garcia jab presents a familiar threat that masks the real danger
- His wide but sudden left hook landed easily in round one, again, this distracted Benn from the danger of the right hand again later in the bout
- Benn’s aggressive style made him vulnerable to counters many time
- The right hand was thrown as Benn was pulling back, great timing
- This is boxing IQ — using an opponent’s learned responses
- His trainer likely identified Benn’s pull-back tendency pre-fight
- The trap worked: one punch, one knockdown, fight over
US boxer Ryan Garcia had been extending the lead left jab almost as a range finding tool before he let that right hand go stepping off the back foot.
He lulled Benn in and beat him to the punch, and then some.
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