Conor Benn has been living on Misery Street for the last 15 weeks, grinding himself down to make 147 lbs. But once is more than enough for the British star. With his WBC title showdown against Ryan Garcia just days away, ‘The Destroyer’ has made it crystal clear: this is a one-off.

He’s making the welterweight limit this time, but don’t expect to see the 29-year-old put his body through that kind of torture again.

“This is my last fight at 147,” Conor Benn said during Wednesday’s media day. “I feel unbelievable at 160. I’ve always wanted to win a world title at 147. I wouldn’t have made it for any other fight apart from fighting for the world title.”

It’s been a long time since Conor Benn has had to squeeze himself all the way down to 147 lbs. His last welterweight outing came back in April 2022, when he stopped Chris van Heerden in the second round.

Since then, the 29-year-old has packed on plenty of size, most notably for his two fights with Chris Eubank Jr., where he was reportedly walking around at around 185 lbs. Even his last bout with Regis Prograis in April was contested at a 150-pound catchweight limit.

So yeah, getting back to 147 has been no joke. ‘The Destroyer’ has openly admitted that dragging his body down to the welterweight limit has been one of the toughest challenges of his career, and the physical toll has been enormous too.

“Of course it’s a gamble, but isn’t that what makes it fun?” Benn admitted. “The risk. The challenge. It’s exciting. A lot of people said I couldn’t make the weight. Watch me do it.

“It’s been four and a half years since I made it, and it does feel like I’ve been through the pits of hell and had to fight with Satan, and God brought me back to life. That’s how it feels making this weight. But ultimately I’ve done it, and that’s it.”

He didn’t exactly wake up one morning and decide to drop to 147. Benn spent roughly 15 weeks dieting and grinding his way down to the limit, a huge change from the 185-pound frame he carried into his middleweight fights with Eubank Jr.

But with a WBC title shot on the line, the opportunity was simply too big to pass up. For the 29-year-old, the brutal cut was the price of getting the fight he wanted.

“About 15 weeks of dieting,” he continued. “I was walking around 185 pounds for the Eubank fight. I was solid. I felt good. I felt strong.

“But an opportunity like this comes up, and you have the magnitude of fighting for the world title in Vegas headlining? What am I going to do? Say no?”

Conor Benn knows exactly what all this suffering is for. If ‘The Destroyer’ can snatch the WBC welterweight title and take down a superstar like Ryan Garcia, the door could swing wide open to some of the biggest fights in the sport.

But once Saturday night is over, Benn says he’s done with 147, irrespective of whether he gets a win, loss or draw. The welterweight division can have him for one night. After that, he’s moving on.

“Thank Nick [Khan], thank Dana [White], thank Zuffa for getting me this world title shot,” he added. “It’s my job to deliver now and then move up to 160, 168.”

Since his last trip to welterweight four years ago, he’s moved up to 11st 6lb for his big-money clashes with Eubank Jr., picking up the first loss of his career in April 2025 before getting his revenge on the scorecards seven months later.

Now, though, Conor Benn is asking his body to do something it clearly isn’t built for anymore: somehow squeeze all the way back down to 147 for one last shot at championship glory.

And if the 29-year-old gets his hand raised against Ryan Garcia, the message is pretty simple: job done. Conor Benn will head back up in weight and leave this brutal cut firmly in the rearview mirror.

It is worth noting that while ‘The Destroyer’ has been torturing himself to make weight, Garcia decided to skip one of fight week’s promotional obligations altogether.

Ryan Garcia explains why he skipped the scheduled Conor Benn face-off

Ryan Garcia was supposed to be at Mandalay Bay on Tuesday for a rooftop event with Benn, giving fans the perfect Vegas backdrop for one more face-off before fight night. But Garcia had other plans.

While ‘The Destroyer’ was ready for the cameras, the WBC welterweight champ decided to skip the whole thing, posting a photo of himself on Instagram, kicking back and playing video games instead. Not exactly the usual pre-fight routine, but then again, Garcia has never been one to do things the usual way.

“Nice relaxing time as Conor wastes time showing up to a face-off,” Garcia wrote on social media. “Back to the sauna you go – sausage getting cooked every which way.”

So, it was Conor Benn’s father, Nigel, who tried to turn the awkward situation into something more lighthearted by stepping in for his son’s scheduled face-off.

“Guys, I apologise for Ryan doing what Ryan does and bottling it,” Benn said. “We turned up; we’re here. He needs to get his s— together because come Saturday, he’s in for a real, big shock.”

But the big question still remains: Why did Ryan Garcia skip the face-off? Well, Garcia offered no apology when asked about his decision the following day. Instead, when asked about the no-show, the 28-year-old basically shrugged it off, making it clear he didn’t see the point of another Tuesday face-off in the first place.

For ‘King Ryan’, there was no drama and no regret. He simply didn’t think it was necessary.

“I wasn’t there because I didn’t want to be,” Garcia told the media. “I mean, look it, we got a face-off at the press conference, then at the weigh-ins and then a final face-off literally in the ring when the refs give you instructions.

“I’ve been doing this for so long. I’ve had fight weeks in Vegas before, and I’ve never had to do a face-off on Tuesday. … So I have a routine to do, and it’s just something I didn’t want to do.”

To make the situation even more bizarre, Ryan Garcia also seemed to be quite amused by Conor Benn’s reaction to his absence.

“It was funny seeing him staring at himself,” he added.

However, there’s only so much longer Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn can dodge the moment that actually matters. ‘King Ryan’ comes in at 25-2 with 20 knockouts, making the first defence of his WBC welterweight title.

Meanwhile, Conor Benn is 25-1 with 14 KOs and is chasing a world title for the very first time. So forget the missed face-offs, the brutal weight cut and all the fight-week drama. None of it matters once that bell rings. On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Garcia and Benn finally get to settle the score the only way that counts: in the ring.