By Charles Brun: Conor Benn says he wants to face Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner next following his win over veteran Adrian ‘El Tigre’ Granados last Saturday night at the Headingley Stadium in Leeds, England.
Unfortunately, the former four-division world champion Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) is a mere shadow of the fighter he was ten years ago.
Since 2017, Broner has put together an abysmal record of 1-2-1, with his only victory coming against little-known Jovanie Santiago last February in a fight that was closer than the scores handed down by the judges.
Boxing fans don’t want to see Benn continue to fight washed-up old guys and fighters that they’ve never heard of.
The fans note that Benn is the same age as Vergil Ortiz Jr. and older than the 23-year-old Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, yet those fighters are willing to take risks by fighting the best.
If Benn isn’t confident enough to fight those guys, he should accept the challenge from EBU welterweight champion David Avanesyan and show that he’s willing to take a loss.
Is Broner too talented for Conor Benn?
As wild and unskilled as Conor Benn looked against Adrian Granados last Saturday night, Broner still might possess too many technical skills for the 24-year-old.
This could be a mistake on Benn’s part to mix it up with Broner, as he’s someone that has the ability to stand his ground and take advantage of Conor’s crude fighting style.
In one example of Benn’s wildness, he threw a left hook against Granados, missing badly and spinning 360 degrees. Had that been Broner that Benn was inside the ring with, he would have clocked him when he turned his back to him.
Granados played it nice by letting Benn off the hook without training him when he was defenseless after missing his left hook, but Broner would be a different story. He’d capitalize on Benn’s wildness and likely knock him out.
Broner’s last six fights;
- Jovanie Santiago – UD 12
- Manny Pacquiao – loss UD 12
- Jessie Vargas – draw 12 MD
- Mikey Garcia – loss UD 12
- Ashley Theophane – TKO 9
- Khabib Allakhverdiev – TKO 12
Those six fights stretch all the way back to 2015, which shows you how infrequently Broner has been fighting. Over that same stretch of time, Broner could have fought 18 times if he’d fought three times per year.
Fighting twice a year, Broner could have fought 12 times in the last six years and made a lot more money, even if he was fighting scrubs.
Hearn targeting Khan for Conor
Though Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn has repeatedly called for former light welterweight champion Amir Khan to accept a fight with Conor, that’s dream stuff coming from the Matchroom Boxing boss.
Khan wants no part of Benn, and Hearn can talk until he’s blue in the face, and it’s not going to make him change his mind.
The fight that the 34-year-old Khan wants is against former IBF 147-lb champion Kell Brook, as it’s one that still can bring in money, and there’s at least a chance for Amir to win.
Brook looked bad in his last fight against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford last November in losing by a fourth round knockout.
“I’ll have Broner next,” Benn said to TalkSport. “I’ll have Broner here at the O2; I’ll have him at a stadium out in America; it doesn’t bother me.
“Broner is definitely an opponent I’d love to fight and share the ring with this year.
“Four-time world division champion, I won’t shy away from anybody, and if he wants it, I’ll give it to him. That’s not a problem.”
If Hearn has got the money to meet Broner’a asking price, this fight can happen between him and Benn. Broner is likely going to want over a million to fight Benn, possibly two.
I don’t know if Hearn is willing to come up with that kind of dough for Benn to add Broner’s aging scalp to his collection of older pelts.