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A performative Ryan Garcia shouted, repeatedly swore and even ate a boiled egg - while Briton Conor Benn kept his cool - during a peculiar news conference in Las Vegas.
American Garcia defends his WBC welterweight belt against 29-year-old Benn at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
A fight week which had been relatively quiet finally came to life on Thursday - thanks largely to the unpredictable champion.
While Garcia, 28, bounced between insults, threats and jokes, Benn remained relatively composed.
Benn spoke instead about giving supporters "value for money" and refused to be drawn into many of his rival's taunts.
"All the talking, tweeting, typing and streaming is done - I'm ready to fight," Benn said, while inexplicably wearing a bullet-proof style vest.
He recently appeared on WWE's Monday Night Raw and it did not take long for the news conference to take on a similarly theatrical feel.
Minutes after taking his seat, Garcia reached into a bag, pulled out the egg, calmly peeled it and ate it whole.
"He has a lot of familiarity with eggs so I thought I'd eat some," Garcia said, as his opponent's father - Nigel Benn - shook his head.
It was a reference to Benn's two positive tests for clomifene in 2022 and the WBC's subsequent ruling that elevated consumption of eggs could provide a reasonable explanation.
Adding to the bizarre atmosphere, Garcia said his egg was a bit dry and would benefit from some honey.
Garcia has also served a doping suspension after testing positive for ostarine following his 2024 fight with Devin Haney. Both fighters have denied knowingly taking banned substances.
Before the face-off, security confiscated an egg Garcia had tucked into his pocket, potentially preventing a repeat of last year's incident when Chris Eubank Jr slapped Benn across the face with one.
Benn and Garcia had to be separated at their launch event in New York in July, but there was no repeat this time. As Garcia continued talking, Benn put a finger to his lips, smiled and eventually turned away and left the stage.
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Thursday's news conference was held inside Saturday's fight venue, with one section of T-Mobile Arena curtained off for the crowd.
Fans had begun queuing more than an hour before the doors opened. It was not a Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez-sized crowd - and far from anything like the travelling support Ricky Hatton once brought to Las Vegas - but there was still a healthy turnout.
Small pockets of travelling British supporters made themselves heard, while Garcia received a much louder but mixed reception.
Garcia said Benn had "lit a fire" by questioning his Mexican heritage. Benn - who spent 12 years of his childhood living in Majorca - responded by speaking fluently in Spanish.
There was another dose of theatre when WBA 'Super' welterweight world champion Teofimo Lopez, disguised with a fake beard, stood among the crowd to ask a question before revealing himself to loud cheers.
Garcia also took aim at Benn's manager Keith Connolly's hairline before turning his attention to the challenger's weight.
Benn has not made the 10st 7lb welterweight limit for more than four years, having fought Chris Eubank Jr twice at middleweight.
Garcia suggested Benn could rehydrate to whatever weight he wanted after Friday's weigh-in but questioned whether his brain would recover sufficiently from the cut.
"[Garcia should] worry about himself," Benn replied. "He seems to have enough problems as it is.
"I don't look at him, I just worry about myself and don't cut corners. We'll see who makes weight tomorrow."
Garcia did eventually acknowledge much of the showmanship was just that.
"All this is noise, I've done my job and I'm the better fighter," he said. "This is fun but we know what to do."
But it did not take him long to slip back into entertainer mode. Even after Benn had left, Garcia remained on stage - flexing, shouting and playing to the crowd.
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