By Charles Brun: Top ten welterweight contender Conor Benn says he wants to fight Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia, or Mikey Garcia in his next learning contest to get him ready to challenge for a world title at 147.
It’s doubtful that Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn can afford Danny Garcia or Mikey Garcia because those two will want big money, especially if they know they’re being used as ‘The opponent’ to make the 25-year-old Conor look better than he actually is.
However, if it were up to Benn (20-0, 13 KOs), he would face WBA champion Yorgenis Ugas next, as he believes he can beat him, IBF/WBC champ Errol Spence Jr. and WBO belt holder Terence Crawford.
To put it another way, there isn’t a champion at 147 that Benn, 25, doesn’t believe he can’t beat. Benn’s recent victories over the old-timers Chris Algieri, Samuel Vargas, and Adrian Granados have planted ideas into his head, making him believe he’s capable of incredible feats.
Since Benn’s pipe dream of him fighting Ugas, Spence, or Crawford next has no realistic chance of happening, he’s going to have to lower his sights toward the old guys that his promoter Eddie Hearn is trying to get for his next fight.
Benn wants Broner, Danny Garcia, or Mikey next
This week, Hearn says his target list for Benn’s next fight is one of these three: Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner, Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, and Maurice ‘Mighty Mo’ Hooker.
“I fancy my chances against any of them [Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr, and Yordenis Ugas]. “It’s not just that I’ve beaten these opponents that I have but the ease and how I’m beating these opponents,’ said Conor Benn to ESPN in explaining why he doesn’t need another two learning fights before fighting for a world title.
The way Benn talks, he needs to snap out of it and recognize that he’s not as good as he thinks. Hearn would do Benn a world of good if he put him in with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jr. to show him how far away he is from the top rung in the welterweight division.
“I should be top three with the majority of the governing bodies,” said Benn. “Adrien Broner, Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, I like the sound of all of those fights; they are big names in America, so that it would be good for my PR in America. But the world title is the end goal.”
Right now, with the fodder that Hearn has been shoveling into the ring for Benn to pad his record with, he seems to think he’s the s***, and he’s not.
Benn is ranked #7 IBF & #7 WBC. To get a top-five, he needs a win over a relevant fighter rather than beating another old guy like Mikey Garcia, Robert Guerrero, Adrien Broner, or Maurice Hooker.
Hearn has been quite open about his desire to have the former four-division world champion Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs), but ‘The Problem’ has resisted taking the match with Benn next. Broner, 32, wants a tune-up in March at 140.
So unless Hearn can convince Broner not to take this course, he’s going to need to look in another direction towards 38-year-old Robert ‘The Ghost’Guerrero or the recently knocked out former WBO light welterweight champion Maurice Hooker.
Sadly, Broner hasn’t beaten a significant name since his controversial victory over Paulie Malignaggi in 2013. That was nine years ago.
All Broner’s wins since then have come against lesser opposition like Adrian Granados, John Molina Jr, Ashley Theophane, and Jovanie Santiago. Broner’s wins over Granados and Santiago were both controversial in the eyes of some boxing fans.
Conor compares himself favorably
This writer had Broner losing to both of those guys, which shows you what The Problem has got level at this point in his career.
“When you do the comparisons with the world champions they fought prior to me, and I’m dealing better with them than they did, so you can use that as a benchmark,” said Benn about how did a better job defeating Chris Algieri and Samuel Vargas than Spence and other top welterweights.
