By Sean Jones: Conor Benn called Amir Khan, Adrien Broner, and Shawn Porter after taking out Samuel Vargas with a fierce barrage of punches in the first round on Saturday night.
The fight ended at 1:20 of the first round with the referee Michael Alexander choosing to stop the fight at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
The stoppage was unnecessary at that point, but the referee, unfortunately, robbed Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) of his moment by abruptly stopping the bout with Vargas (31-7-2, 14 KOs) still on his feet, looking alert, and wanting to continue.
Vargas made the same mistake that many fighters do when they visit a foreign country. He failed to realize that Benn would come out and flurry and look for the referee to make a premature stoppage.
The lack of experience that Vargas had in traveling to countries like the UK and Germany left him totally unprepared for one of the methods that are used to get quick stoppages.
An old trick that fighters use to get to get quick stoppages in the UK is to flurry and then wait for the referee to halt the fight right away. If this fight was held in the U.S, it’s likely the referee would have waited, especially with it being in the first round.
If Vargas had fought overseas more, he’d have realized what Benn was trying to do, and he would have tied him up or moved away.
What was more interesting than the Benn-Vargas fight was the guys that Conor called out immediately after.
It was thought that Benn, 24, would call out Khan, and he certainly did, but it was surprising to hear him also dare former four-division world champion Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner and former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter.
Broner looks totally shot at this point in his career, and there would be no real gain for Benn to fight him. With that said, if promoter Eddie Hearn offers Broner a big enough offer, he’d probably agree to the fight with Benn, but it would need to be something out of this world because Adrien won’t want any part of him after tonight.
“Give me Amir Khan. If he wants it, he can have it,” said Conor Benn.
“I can deal with pressure. I can cope with it. I can live with it, no problem. I’m ready for the top dogs – Shawn Porter, Adrien Broner?
“I’m the most rapidly improved fighters globally.”
#1 WBO Porter is in the running for a world title shot against WBO 147-lb champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford. He might want too much more for a fight against Benn, but if Hearn is willing to make that fight, he can probably find the money to get Porter to sign.
It’s safe to say that Hearn WON’T be able to get Khan, Broner, or Porter for Benn’s next fight. Khan and Broner will turn it down, and Porter will want too much money.
More realistic options for Benn’s next fight:
- Jaron Ennis
- Vergil Ortiz Jr
- Daniyar Yeleussinov
- David Avanesyan
- Josh Kelly
- Kell Brook
- Danny Garcia
- Maurice Hooker
- Josesito Lopez
- Jessie Vargas