A dazzling talent just reaching his prime will enter the T-Mobile Arena here this Saturday night with the hopes of a fighting nation resting on his shoulders.Conor Benn, not so much. British boxing is enjoying a boom, not least with its dominance in the marquee heavyweight division.The young man the son of Nigel is challenging for the world welterweight crown carries the burden of restoring America to its historic pre-eminence in the prize-ring.Not just by adding to an unusually low head count of their champions but by resuscitating the excitement, the stardust, the impudence, the controversy, the brilliance and the fascination of the public over here with the hardest game of all.Ryan Garcia is the only poster boy left to them following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather. Vitally, he has all it takes to bring a new generation of fans clamouring to his fights.At 28 he has the matinee idol looks of a young Elvis Presley which brings the girls squealing into the crowds. A rock and roll bad-boy reputation which chimes with the lads. Showmanship within the ring and charisma outside the ropes. Ryan Garcia will take on Conor Benn on Saturday night with the American carrying the hopes of a fighting nation on his shoulders Garcia has reconciled with Andrea Celina Velarde (left), the beautiful mother of two of his three children (above) Benn has arrived in Las Vegas with the aim of taking the WBC welterweight belt from GarciaGlamorous blondes vie for his favours. Even though he is resisting those temptations now he has scrapped divorce proceedings and reconciled with Andrea Celina Velarde, the beautiful mother of two of his three children.And, boy, can he box. The speed of hand and foot. The knock-out punching power. The taunting evasion. And, yes, the conceit which on occasion gets him into trouble.The two defeats scarring his 28-fight record – against two of America’s other world champions Gervonta Davis and Rolly Romero – came when he was at his most arrogant and complacent.The no-decision verdict which negated his stand-out victory over Devin Haney was imposed for failing a post-fight drug test for performance-enhancing Ostarine.Like Benn he protested his innocence: ‘I’ve never knowingly taken drugs.’ His relatives revealed he had been struggling with his mental health and against alcohol. But unlike Conor he preferred taking his punishment – a $1million fine and a 12-month ban – rather than financing a protracted court case which would also have kept him under lengthy suspension.Not that King Ry – he wears a gold crown for his ring entrances – is prone to compromising his regally unvarnished opinions. Garcia was a vociferous backer of Donald Trump in his first presidential election campaign. But given his Mexican roots he criticised Trump’s second-term deportation policy. Finally he renounced his support, denouncing the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein Files.A devout Christian, he called rapper Eminem a satanist and posted on Twitter: ’I don’t support the LGBTQ+. F*** you guys. Rot in hell.’ He called for a boycott of the Olympics for ‘disrespecting Jesus Christ’ with the section of the opening ceremony of France 2024 in which drag queens imitating Greek gods were widely supposed to be parodying the Last Supper. Garcia scrapped divorce proceedings with influencer Andrea in August 2025 Garcia turned down WBC offers to help with his mental health difficulties but progress has been deemed to be made, leading to him fighting and beating Mario Barris in FebruaryThe rock-and-roller came out in him when he was arrested for causing $150,000- worth of damage while trashing a room and a corridor at the ritzy Waldorf Astoria hotel in Beverly Hills. That risked a short prison term, which has not been applied.Another suspension was imposed. This one from competing in fights sanctioned by the WBC for racist slurs live on the internet against the black community and muslims. President Mauricio Sulaiman reported that Garcia had turned down a number of offers from the WBC to help Garcia with his mental health difficulties.Sulaiman relented last November, saying he recognised the progress made in that regard by the fighter’s large family.Promptly, this February, Garcia defeated the highly rated Mario Barrios to claim the WBC welterweight belt, inflicting a first round knockdown on his way to a unanimous decision.The braggadocio bubbles to the surface before fights. As soon as this weekend’s bout was announced he told Benn to his face: ‘You box like amateur trash. You’re just a flashy trash can. I’m going to throw you out with trash.’All the ingredients are there for the making of a turbulent, troubled super-star son of this angry and violent 21st century. All wrapped up in the rare skills and brave heart of a potentially great fighter.Some indication of whether all that will be enough for him to kindle another golden age in US boxing may be seen in how he deals with Benn. The huge scale of that task is evident in this, my overwhelmingly American list of the 20 greatest boxers of all time, with Lennox Lewis the Brit who came closest to inclusion…