Conor Benn’s manager, Keith Connolly, will negotiate with Eddie Hearn to set up a fight with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios next. Then, they will move toward a pay-per-view clash against Gervonta Davis in the States.
The Money Fight
Connolly feels there’s more money in a fight against Tank Davis. Benn’s promoter, Hearn, has been pushing for a clash against middleweight Chris Eubank Jr., believing that fight would bring in more revenue than a match against WBC 147-lb champion Barrios. However, he’s not seeing the pick big picture of the money Benn can make if he can capture the WBC belt.
It’s perfectly understandable from Conor’s standpoint why he would want to fight WBC 147-lb champion Barrios rather than the one-off fight against the much bigger, older 5’11” Eubank Jr. There’s more to gain from a fight against Barrios because of the belt, and the fact that he’s a world champion.
Eubank Jr. is viewed as a slacker, a career underachiever who has never pushed himself to accomplish important things. He’s just a contender. It’s better for Benn to capture the WBC belt and use it as a lure to get the money fights against these fighters:
– Ryan Garcia
– Gervonta Davis
– Devin Haney
– Manny Pacquiao
– Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis: *Save him for last
“The Conor Benn, Chris Eubank fight doesn’t look like it’ll happen next. My plan is to talk to Eddie Hearn this week to proceed with negotiations for Conor to fight Mario Barrios next, then target a huge PPV event in America against Gervonta Davis. There’s actually more money in the Gervonta Davis fight for Conor anyway,” said Connolly to Mike Coppinger on X.
A bout between Benn and Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) would be huge in 2025 and attract interest worldwide. However, if Benn chooses Eubank Jr., that would only interest fans in the UK market, leaving out the rest of the world, who don’t rate Chris.
If Benn, 28, can fight Tank Davis next year, it would bring in massive money regardless of the outcome for Conor. However, it’s difficult to imagine the 5’5″ Davis coming up to 147 to fight Benn without a catchweight involved, which would see Conor having to drain down in weight to the 130s to make the fight easier for the Baltimore native.
A rehydration clause, in addition to a catchweight, would leave Benn looking like a dead man walking during the weigh-in and sap whatever energy he had to win the fight.