Ryan Garcia has said he would be open to fighting Conor Benn in the UK, while taking a jibe at the British star’s promoter Eddie Hearn.

In a huge rematch on 15 November, Benn knocked down Chris Eubank Jr twice en route to a decision win, gaining redemption after a points loss to his bitter rival in April.

Having fought Eubank Jr at middleweight on both occasions, Benn is now keen to return to his preferred division of welterweight, with ambitions of becoming a world champion for the first time.

However, the 29-year-old is more-generally interested in big-name opponents, including American Garcia.

That said, both Benn and Garcia have been linked to a title shot against WBC champion Mario Barrios; if Garcia challenges and dethrones the Mexican-American, Benn may yet get a world-title fight and high-profile opponent in one fell swoop.

Discussing the prospect of fighting Benn, Garcia told Covers.com: “I don’t think he has a big presence in America, but I would be willing to go to the UK. I would definitely be willing to go to the UK to fight him. He seems like a fun match-up.

“He’s gonna come crazy and throw bombs all night and thinks he’s gonna overwhelm me, but he won’t. But I would love to fight him. I love fighting Eddie Hearn fighters, I don’t know why, I just love to beat them up.

“He just makes you want to beat his fighters up. It’s just the way he talks, the way he moves, I can’t wait to look at his face and say: ‘I did it again.’ That would bring so much joy to me, almost more than a championship title. I would be ecstatic just to see Eddie’s face, sad and confused.

“I beat Luke Campbell, Devin Haney – he was representing him, I beat him. I’m ready to beat up Conor now.”

Garcia, 27, was referencing his 2024 bout with compatriot Haney, whom Garcia dropped three times in a decision win; however, Garcia later returned an adverse drug-test result, leading to a 12-month ban and causing his victory over Haney to be overturned to a No Contest.

Garcia continued: “I don’t think [Benn] is at the level he thinks he’s at, I’ll tell you that. I don’t think that Eubank had enough skills or felt good enough. I just think Conor is young, and I think he’s hungry, and I think he fights that way, but I don’t think he’s that good – if that makes sense.

“His style is a brawler, but boxers will always beat brawlers. A good boxer will always beat a good brawler, for sure. I don’t think he beats any of the top-level dudes at 147[lb], but if he believes it, we could all run it.

“If he wants a big name, I would love to come to the UK and take all your fans. That would [make me] ecstatic. And guess what? The UK fans are the best.”

On Saturday, Benn and Hearn sat ringside in Saudi Arabia, where Haney became a three-division world champion by claiming the WBO welterweight belt.

The unbeaten Haney, 27, dropped Brian Norman Jr en route to a decision win, but Benn and Hearn played down the “Dream”’s performance.

Benn said Haney looked “scared of his own shadow”, while Garcia has now said of Hearn’s comments: “I think there was a little bit of saltiness, I could taste a little salt. But when he had Devin, he was the ‘greatest fighter in the world’, he would ‘never be beaten’.

“I’m not hating on it; you gotta do your job, right? I think that the real honest opinion of that fight [is] Devin Haney looked sharp, but he didn’t have a killer instinct. This is the sharpest I’ve seen him since the [Jorge] Linares fight [in 2021], but still, no killer instinct.

“You get a man hurt like that, and the next few rounds you do good, and then you just coast the whole fight. He’s okay with just winning, which is perfectly fine, but you need to be a killer.”

Haney’s title win at welterweight followed his divisional debut in May, when he was criticised for a lacklustre performance in outpointing Jose Ramirez. At the same event, Garcia similarly debuted at welterweight and was dropped and outpointed by Rolly Romero.

Regardless, Garcia has been linked with another title shot in his next outing.