Promoter Eddie Hearn is working hard to get Conor Benn a massive fight for his next date. He says Gervonta Davis has replied to his offer and states, “he’s never going to be happy.”
Hearn states Tank should get involved because the fight will generate big gates and PPV numbers and give him a huge purse. If that fight doesn’t happen, Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) says he has four options for his next bout.
Hearn is still keen on setting up a fight between Benn and Chris Eubank Jr., but negotiating that match could prove impossible.
Eubank Jr. appears to be interested in fighting Benn, but it might take too much heavy lifting on Hearn’s part to make that match.
Hearn can’t afford to spend too much time negotiating the fight because Benn wants to get back in the ring, and there’s too much of a chance he could wind up empty-handed in negotiations with Eubank Jr.
Gervonta’s Grumbles
“There’s been a reply from Gervonta,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing Social about his offer to Gervonta Davis to fight against Conor Benn.
“He’s never going to be happy. That can do huge pay-per-view numbers and gate numbers. He [Gervonta] should look to get involved in that show and that purse because it can deliver big numbers,” Hearn continued.
If Hearn wants the Tank fight, he will need to offer him a lot of money, which could be more than the fight will generate. Tank Davis is coming off a mega-fight with Ryan Garcia last April, so naturally, he will want similar money, even though the Benn fight isn’t nearly as big.
If Tank believes that the match with Benn can make colossal dough, he’ll want the huge dough. Even if he doesn’t believe it will, he’ll still likely want to make what he got for the Ryan fight. No one wants to take a pay cut.
Tank probably knows he wants the rematch with Ryan Garcia, so he won’t settle for less. He knows a rematch is there for him against Ryan, so he won’t take the fight with Benn unless he’s paid top dollar.
“We’re talking, and we’ll see where it gets to. Conor is very keen to lock in his next fight as soon as possible,” said Hearn. “I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to get in the way of making fights, but I promise you this. Conor Benn will be in a massive fight next.
Star-Studded Options
“It’s kind of like a dream fight,” said Hearn about a clash between Benn and WBC interim welterweight champion Mario Barrios. “It’s still a 50-50 fight, but it’s for the WBC interim world championship.”
Fighting Barrios for the interim WBC welterweight title will put Benn in a position to fight for him to be elevated to full champion or challenge for a the title against Terence Crawford.
“Obviously, the elephant in the room [Chris Eubank Jr.] we won’t talk about. Liam Smith, Kell Brook. Manny Pacquiao contacted us the other day. He’s contacted us for the fight, his people.
- Chris Eubank Jr. (the much-discussed domestic fight)
- Liam Smith
- Kell Brook
- Manny Pacquiao (the legendary boxer’s team has reached out)
“I don’t think there’s many that are not calling out Conor Benn. Yeah, absolutely,” said Hearn when asked if he’d make the fight between Benn and 45-year-old Pacquiao.
It’s difficult to imagine Pacquiao taking the fight with Benn because he has other options he can take that would resonate more with the U.S. boxing public.
“Bob Arum was talking about him fighting Josh Taylor yesterday. Is Conor Benn better than Josh Taylor? I think so, but Josh Taylor is [correction: was} an undisputed world champion [at 140],” said Hearn.
