By Charles Brun: A jumpy, angry-looking Conor Benn weighed in at 145.7 lbs on Friday for his main event fight against Chris Van Heerden for their fight on Saturday night LIVE on DAZN.

For his part, the 34-year-old South African Van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs) weighed in at 146.5 lbs. Although listed as just one inch taller than the 5’8″ Benn, the 5’9″ Van Heerden towered over his shorter opponent during the face-off, appearing at least two inches taller.

https://youtu.be/iiMgON392gY?t=227

Much has been said by Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn about how Van Heerden has a lot of experience against the likes of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Errol Spence Jr, those fights were a long time ago, and they were uncompetitive affairs.

Van Heerden soaked up one-way punishment in both of those contests, which underscores the view the critics have about this being another cherry-pick for Benn to make him look better than he actually is.

The negatives for Van Heerden:

Age
Lack of power
Inactivity – hasn’t fought in two years
Slow hand speed
Winless since 2019

Boxing fans have been all over Hearn, giving him grief for not putting Benn in with EBU welterweight champion David Avanesyan, a fighter that has been calling him out for ages.

Hearn said last week that Benn has gone past the European level, but that obviously isn’t true because he failed to face Avanesyan. Fans believe Benn is running scared of the hard-hitting Russian Avanesyan and has no desire to share the ring with him.

“The response from people when fights are made and I’ll give you an example. A year ago, he was fighting [Chris] Algieri or [Adrian] Granados or Van Heerden, it’s a ’50-50 fight.’ Now, they’re saying, ‘Stick him [Benn] in with Mikey Garcia or Keith Thurman,'” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing UK in highlighting the change of opinions about Benn from fans.

“I said to Conor, ‘Don’t get frustrated by that. That’s a big compliment.’ This is a tough fight, his [Benn] first-ever southpaw,'” Hearn continued.

“You’ve only got to talk to Van Heerden to know how much he wants it. He’s not a muck, he’s a tough man. Conor Benn is improving all the time, he’s very spiteful, and he’s very aggressive.

“I think the main thing in this fight is getting the experience against a southpaw, and trying to beat a really tough man who is going to be a big welterweight as well.

“Whenever you win in life, you win,” said Hearn when asked if boxing fans will discredit a victory for Benn if he stops the 34-year-old inactive Van Heerden in the early rounds.

“When people say it’s a ‘No-win situation,’ no-win doesn’t exist because when you win, you win. I understand the question, but ultimately, you’re going through the process, you’re learning in the camp, you’re learning against a world-class southpaw in there, and you’re gaining in experience,” said Hearn in putting a slant on Benn fighting another older fighter that hasn’t registered a win since 2019.