JoJo Diaz Says Ryan Garcia Can Hurt and Beat 42-0 Terence Crawford

Ryan Garcia needed just two rounds to open his WBC welterweight reign, dropping Conor Benn (25-1, 14 KO) for an early stoppage on Saturday. Then he grabbed the mic and called out a retired Terence Crawford, the 39-year-old who sits at 42-0 with 31 knockouts and a decision win over Canelo Alvarez on his ledger.

That call-out got a co-sign from former IBF super-featherweight champion Joseph 'JoJo' Diaz, who told FightHype that Garcia is absolutely capable of hurting Crawford if the fight ever materializes. Diaz's logic is simple: everyone bleeds, Crawford has been hurt before, and boxing is boxing.

The Red Flag Diaz Spotted

For all the praise, Diaz didn't hand Garcia a blank check. He flagged the brief peek-a-boo defensive posture Garcia flashed against Benn as a genuine problem, arguing that a fighter as sharp as Crawford would punish those lapses and could hurt Garcia in return. His advice was blunt: clean that up before stepping in with an elite operator.

It's a fair note even in a two-round demolition. Garcia (25-2, 20 KO) carries real power, but he also carries two losses, and against a technician like Crawford, small defensive habits get magnified fast. A dominant result over Benn doesn't erase the tape.

What Actually Comes Next

The Crawford talk is aspirational for now. The more concrete path points toward WBA welterweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez, setting up a unification bout that would carry genuine stakes. Lopez, listed at 22-2 (13 KO), is coming off a decision loss to Shakur Stevenson, so both men would have plenty to prove.

Dana White has already floated Garcia as a future 'face of boxing,' and beating a pound-for-pound name would cement that. Whether that name ends up being Crawford or Lopez, Diaz's warning stands: Garcia's got the firepower, but the defense needs work. Diaz himself, meanwhile, is prepping for a bareknuckle debut against Brian Hyslop in Newcastle on October 10.