By Charles Brun: Conor Benn fired back on Thursday in response to the huge amount of criticism he’s received in selecting 34-year-old inactive welterweight Chris Van Heerden as his next opponent for his fight on April 16th on DAZN at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Benn (20-0, 13 KOs) points out that it was fine for highly-touted Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to fight Van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs) in his 26th fight in 2020, so shouldn’t be an issue for him to take the contest now in his 22nd match-up.
What the 25-year-old Benn is failing to realize is that Ennis was 22-years-old, three years younger than him, when he fought the South African Van Heerden in 2020. Van Heerden was 32 at the time and fighting actively.
The combination Van Heerden being out of the ring for two years, his advancing age, and the fact that he was pummeled during the one-round no-decision against Ennis make him a poor choice for Benn to be fighting in the main event.
Ennis was beating the stuffing out of Van Heerden moments before the contest was halted in the first round due to the South African suffering a cut.
It was alarming how badly Van Heerden was getting beaten by the then 22-year-old Boots Ennis in that fight, and it looks bad that Benn would want to fight him after that showing.
It would be understandable for Benn to want to fight Van Heerden if he’d been competitive with Ennis, but he wasn’t remotely competitive.
Benn choosing Van Heerden as his opponent reinforces the belief that boxing fans have about him being a cherry-picker, who focuses exclusively on old washed-up guys.
Benn defends choice of Van Heerden
“Listen, for them to be going to me, ‘Why are you fighting Van Heerden for? It’s a step-down.’ That’s a back-handed compliment because three years ago you wouldn’t have been saying that,” said Conor Benn to Boxing Social in reacting to the huge backlash from his decision to fight washed up Chris Van Heerden on April 16th.
Benn sounds a little thick-headed here in failing to fully grasp why the boxing world has been critical of him fighting Van Heerden.
If you take one look at how terrible Van Heerden looked against Ennis, it tells you all you need to know why fans are trashing Benn for picking this old guy as his opponent.
“Southpaw, experience, ringcraft, tough and he’s definitely as tough as they come,” said Benn to Fight Stars TV on his match against Van Heerden.
“He’s going to present different struggles from anybody I’ve fought before because he’s a southpaw, but I’m confident in my ability and anything anyone throws at me on the night.
“All I’ve been sparring are southpaws. Because I’m in the public eye massively,” said Benn when asked why he’s being criticized for fighting 34-year-old Van Heerden.
“People are going to say that he fought Jaron Ennis right before me [in 2020] and Jaron Ennis had 26 fights. Then you go, if it’s alright for him to fight and you’re tipping him to be the next pound-for-pound, it’s definitely alright for Conor Benn to fight.
“I’m more in the public eye than Jaron Ennis is, so you’re bound to receive criticism, and that’s fine. The big fights are the fights that I want. I want the big fights. If I fought Kell Brook there would be people giving me criticism.
“So it’s fine. You’ve got to let the promoters do what they’ve got to do. I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me, and that’s that, and then we move,” Benn said.
Conor talks failed Brook talks
“Obviously, we want the big British showdowns, but for me, my head was set on April 16th, my head was set on Van Heerden. He was at the forefront of my mind,” said Benn when asked if he was disappointed that his promoter Eddie Hearn couldn’t negotiate the match against Kell Brook.
Benn should look at it as a positive that the Brook fight failed to happen for him because he’s not ready to take on a fighter of that caliber.
With the way that Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn is matching him, he may not be ready to face someone like Brook for years.
Look at the old-timers Hearn has been matching Benn against
- Chris Algieri
- Samuel Vargas
- Adrian Granados
- Chris Van Heerden
- Jussi Koivula
- Josef Zahradnik
“Listen, what’s for me went past me. So if they made the fight they made the fight great, but when they realized the numbers were that far apart, I’m not going to wait around. Let’s get April 16th done. I’m not going to wait around for no one.
“I don’t really know and I don’t really care,” said Benn when asked if Brook outpriced himself on purpose. “It’s not about money for me.
“It was a matter of do I wait around and maybe the fight happens and maybe it don’t and clear a few million or focus on progressing my career, which will lead to that money anyway? Progress my career definitely.
“I don’t know. That makes me cringe,” said Benn on whether him being a headliner again shows that he’s one of the biggest stars in British boxing.
Benn expects to be world champion in 12 months
“World champion. That’s where I see myself in 12 months,” said Benn. “If it’s someone at that level, [David] Avanesyan is world level most definitely. I’d rather [Yordenis] Ugas or Keith Thurman,” said Benn about who he’d like to fight after Van Heerden.
Benn sounds like his feet aren’t firmly on the ground with him talking about capturing a world title within 12 months.
Unless he’s referring to one of the interim title jobs that the sanctioning bodies throw around, there’s no way on earth that Benn will win a world title within the 12 months.
Benn’s just not good enough, and he’s not progressing with Hearn matching him against shot guys left and right. When you look at Conor’s famous father Nigel and see the great opposition he was fighting at a similar age, it’s disappointing to see how far off he is from that level.
Of course, Nigel was on another level. He didn’t need to be pampered because he was good enough to fight for world titles when he first turned pro.
“I know some people want Avanesyan, but I’d rather fight for a world title or final eliminator for a world title,” said Benn. “Most definitely, a world title is the goal and I know he wants a world title.
“The reason the fight keeps getting spoken about so much is because that’s all Warren’s team has to offer him,” said Benn about Avanesyan. “That’s all their team has to offer him is the Conor Benn fight. I don’t think they can make any other fight materialize for him apart from myself.
“It’s good television, isn’t it?” said Benn on the back and forth between Warren and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. “It’s quite funny, but Warren has signed Avanesyan on the back of that. You know the fights never going to happen.
“We tried to make the [Chris] Jenkins. We offered Jenkins four or five times he ever got paid before, and Warren wouldn’t allow it. So, we really wanted that British [welterweight] title before he lost to Ekow [Essuman]. The teams won’t work, one million percent, no way. It’s silly.
“I get a victory by any means necessary,” said Benn on what happens when he steps inside the ring on April 9th against Van Heerden.
