Chris Eubank Jr trolls arch-rival Conor Benn immediately after brutal Ryan Garcia loss

After a thrilling opener in which he landed a good body shot but walked into a couple of trademark left hooks, Benn was dropped by a stinging right hand early in the second.

He simply could not recover with so much time left in the round, with Garcia relentless with his subsequent onslaught as referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to wave off the bout with Benn taking heavy punishment against the ropes.

It was a comprehensive early end to Benn’s maiden world title challenge, with Garcia sending a message with a ruthless first defence of the WBC welterweight belt he initially took from Mario Barrios in February.

And Eubank Jr could not resist a dig at Benn’s expense straight after the fight, taking to social media site X to post: “Welcome to the ’fighting after cutting too much weight’ club… Enjoy.”

Benn made no secret of the challenge he faced in cutting weight for a first return to the welterweight division for almost four-and-a-half years against Garcia, having fought Eubank Jr twice at middleweight and also battled former super-lightweight world champion Regis Prograis at a catchweight of 150lbs back in April.

His last welterweight contest had been against Chris van Heerden in April 2022, having also weighed over 150lbs for his fights against Rodolfo Orozco and Peter Dobson.

Had he won the title, Benn said he would have vacated it immediately before moving back up to middleweight or potentially even super-middleweight.

He did make the 147lb welterweight limit on Friday, with subsequent claims that he put on a staggering 32.4lbs in just a matter of hours after rehydrating following the weigh-in.

"It's been extremely difficult," Benn told BBC Sport before the clash with Garcia.

"It feels like I've been dragged down to the pits of hell, had a fight with Satan and God brought me back to life.

"Making weight has been the hardest thing I've done. I haven't made weight for four-and-a-half years so it's going to be hard.

"But I won't moan when I'm getting paid a fortune to headline in Vegas for a world title. I know what I signed up for."

Eubank Jr had shown his support for Garcia ahead of the fight with Benn, tweeting a picture of the pair together earlier on Saturday alongside the caption: “Get the job done kid.”

It remains to be seen if a decisive trilogy fight between Eubank Jr and Benn could now beckon, with their fierce rivalry - which follows that of their famous fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, in the 1990s - locked at one win apiece.