If Conor Benn’s aim was to get under Ryan Garcia’s skin, the Englishman certainly appears to have succeeded. During a heated face-off at an early pre-fight press conference, ‘The Destroyer’ questioned Garcia’s Mexican heritage, telling him, “You have no heart. You’re not Mexican, bro.” That remark clearly struck a nerve with the 28-year-old, who is now fired up to make Benn pay for those words when they meet on September 12.

At the media day, the WBC welterweight champion revealed that he is now determined to channel that anger into his performance and show his opponent that his Mexican roots run deep. 

“It’s definitely given me a more intense level of focus,” Garcia said. “So it kind of backfired on him. He’s going to see Saturday night how many Mexicans really ride with me. He could be talking all that s—t. He’s believing those comments. But come Saturday night, my people will come out for me.

“They will see who walks out with me. He’s going to be in a shocker. I’m going to make sure to show him what type of person I am. He’s going to realize, ‘Oh s—t. This f—r is really Mexican.'”  

Ryan Garcia is actually a second-generation American. His mother is from Los Angeles, California, while Garcia’s father is from Chicago. But it’s his grandparents who first immigrated from Mexico to America, and because of this, ‘King Ryan’ feels deeply connected to his heritage.

In fact, Garcia revealed that his ancestry going back to Mexico means a lot to him and believes Benn crossed a line by commenting on his roots. 

“Well, it means a lot to me,” Garcia added. “I think that especially because he’s been challenging that side of me, it brings that fire in me and makes sure I teach him a good lesson. I’m not coming at his heritage. I’m not calling him, ‘You’re not this. You’re not that.’

“Who the f—k are you to tell me you’re not Mexican? Are you Mexican? It just kind of put a little bit of fire inside me. I’m going to teach him a lesson to never disrespect me like that again.”

Though it’s understandable that a Mexican-American like Ryan Garcia felt offended by his opponent questioning his roots, it’s a mind game that has been part of combat sports for years.

Most notably, Frank Bruno questioned Lennox Lewis’s British heritage before their 1993 bout. Lewis was born in London but grew up in Canada, and that became the pressure point Bruno tried to exploit to gain a mental edge in the fight.

However, when it comes to Garcia himself, he shouldn’t have been surprised by Conor Benn doubting his heritage, because one of his former opponents used the same mental tactic against him before. 

Gervonta Davis mocked Ryan Garcia over his Mexican heritage 

Before Conor Benn tried to crawl under Ryan Garcia’s skin by taking a dig at his heritage, Gervonta Davis had already pulled it off. Prior to their 2023 boxing match, ‘Tank’ ripped into Garcia, pointing out that he hails from Los Angeles, California, and can’t speak Spanish like the people of his ancestry.

“Ryan, how can he consider himself Mexican if he doesn’t speak any Spanish?” Davis said during the press conference. “He’s not Mexican, really. He’s from Los Angeles.”

Though Garcia shrugged off the tirade at the time, Davis’ trash talk seemed to work wonders, as he knocked out Garcia in the seventh round of their highly anticipated boxing match. In that case, Conor Benn appears to have taken a chapter out of ‘Tank’s’ book and could be hoping the WBC welterweight champion fights emotionally when they finally meet in the ring two days from now.

That said, with Benn vs. Garcia picking up massive heat, it will be interesting to see whether Zuffa’s star player gets the victory this weekend or if the Mexican-American comes out on top.