Conor Benn has rated the overall ability of Ryan Garcia after suffering a second-round stoppage defeat to the WBC champion in September.

Prior to that, many questioned whether Benn, who has previously tested positive for banned substance clomiphene, had done enough to merit his world title shot at 147lbs.

Not only had he not made the weight since 2022, when he failed the doping tests, but the lack of a world-class victory on his resume only added to the pre-fight scepticism.

It therefore came as no great surprise, at least in the eyes of some, that ‘The Destroyer’ seemed out of his depth against Garcia.

The American has, after all, operated at a much higher level to Benn, whose most significant win came against a seemingly faded and weight-drained Chris Eubank Jr.

Their two middleweight encounters last year resulted in unanimous decisions, the first going Eubank’s way and their rematch, a far more one-sided affair, swinging in favour of Benn following two 12th-round knockdowns.

But while Benn clearly feels more comfortable fighting at 160lbs, the 30-year-old has told Sky Sports that, regardless of his weight-making struggles, Garcia ultimately landed a crushing right hand that he could never recover from.

“There’s no excuses, Ryan is a phenomenal fighter, caught me with a phenomenal shot and he was the better man on the night.

“I dust it all off, dust the cobwebs off and come back and be a better version of myself.”

With Benn set to continue working with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, he should have no shortage of options, including Callum Walsh and Denzel Bentley, to consider for a middleweight outing in 2027.