Conor Benn = England’s new ‘Golden Boy’ – says Adrian Granados

Adrian Granados says he’s going to knock out England’s version of ‘Golden Boy’ next Saturday night on July 31st when he faces welterweight contender Conor Benn live on DAZN at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex,

Oscar De La Hoya was the original ‘Golden Boy,’ but he fought and beat quality fighters, capturing five-division world titles. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 1992. Conor Benn hasn’t done anything like that. He’s just a guy with a famous father.

Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) is a fast-rising contender, who like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, has been able to capitalize on his famous father’s name to get attention on himself.

Although Conor hasn’t beaten anyone of quality to get the attention, having former two-division world champion Nigel Benn as his dad has spotlighted him for his fights against the low-level opposition that he’s been facing.

The 31-year-old Granados (21-8-3, 15 KOs) is on the downside of his career at this point, which is clearly why he’s been picked as the opponent for Benn.

But Granados believes he’s got enough talent to defeat Benn and use the victory as a launchpad to get him a world title shot. That’s the perfect scenario for Granados, but it’s not likely to go that way.

What we’re likely to see next Saturday is Benn jumping on Granados with a flurry of punches in the first couple of rounds to try and get a similar quick stoppage as we saw in his last fight against Samuel Vargas on April 10th in London.

Granados believes he must stop Benn

“I work for everything I got. I always used to have to work a side job, valet, car wash, busboy, I was a bank teller. I used to have all these odd jobs I used to work,” said Granados to Matchroom Boxing.

“Thank God, the last five or six years, I haven’t had to work, and I want to keep it that way. I want to beat Conor Benn, get closer to a world title, and keep making money.

“I’m not worried about whatever Conor Benn is saying. He’s saying he’s going to stop me, saying he’s going to do this,” Granados continued. “Do you know what? I don’t talk. I just show up, and that’s what I’m going to do.

“I’m going to have to stop him because I’m fighting England’s new ‘Golden Boy’ in England, so it’s like, I got to stop him,” said Granados about Benn.

If Benn cannot score a fast referee stoppage like last time he fought, it’ll be interesting to see how the fight with Granados goes down.

Given Benn’s pedestrian-level opposition during his five-year professional career, he hasn’t faced anyone good enough to give him a good test. You can argue that Sebastian Formella and Cedrick Peynaud (8-8-3, 4 KOs) are the two best guys that Benn has fought.

He clearly deserved a defeat against Peynaud in their first fight in December 2017, so maybe Granados will need a knockout to beat Benn.

Peynaud dropped Benn and yet still lost the fight in a six-rounder. With the way that fight was scored, Granados may be up against it this Saturday, going into England to take on the UK’s version of ‘Golden Boy.’

Adrian is ready to humble Benn

“Confidence is good; that’s what we all have. Me myself, I’m a confident fighter. I’m confident in my ability. I just don’t talk on it the way that he [Benn] does.

“I don’t got nothing to say—some of the things he said about me. ‘Alright, boy, you’re going to find out now because I’m not anybody else you’ve ever fought. Don’t be talking all that mess because you’re going to get humbled real quick.'”

Granados is going to have to really put it on Benn if he humbles him on Saturday. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen Granados beat anyone near good enough in the last six years of his career to consider him as having a chance of scoring an upset in his fight with Conor.

You have to realize that Benn’s promoters at Matchroom have already vetted Granados, checking his fights out to ensure he’s not a serious threat to him. The fact that Granados was picked for Benn tells all you need to know about his qualifications or lack thereof.

If Matchroom REALLY wanted to give Conor Benn a true test, they’d toss him in the ring with David Avanesyan in a sink or swim level fight and close their eyes and hope.

Benn is a great talker, but he looked godawful against Peynaud in both fights. The thing is, Benn isn’t going to develop if all his promoters are going to do is match him against guys that are shot and on the way out.

Benn’s last opponent Samuel Vargas used to be a decent fringe-level welterweight six years ago, but he was well past it by the time he picked to fight Conor.

Rather than use the fight with Vargas to test out his skills to try and develop, Benn bum-rushed the guy, threw a flurry got a premature referee stoppage.

It was a waste of a fight. For Benn to develop, he’s got to be tested by guys like Avanesyan, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Jaron Ennis. Benn is older than Ennis and Ortiz Jr, so there’s no excuse for him not to fight those guys.

Granados: I’m not Samuel Vargas

“He’s making it seem like he’s going to dismantle me and destroy me,” said Granados on Conor Benn. “Bro, you ain’t nobody. I didn’t know who he was until recently. I got respect for the Benn name. I respect him because he’s a Benn, but it’s because of his dad [Nigel Benn] and what his dad has done.

“I know everyone was impressed with his fight with Sammy Vargas, but he just kind of jumped on Sammy, and Sammy wasn’t expecting all that, and he stopped him,” Granados said about Conor Benn’s first round knockout win over Vargas on April 10th in London, England. “That was good, that was a great win for him, but I’m not Samuel Vargas.

“I kind of see myself as a lovable loser because I can’t get a decision or I can’t get a win at the big stage but give hell to whoever I fight.

“I plan on putting on a great performance. I know I’m going to show the heart that I’ve got. I always come with a barn-burning fight. So I’m looking to get a good win, a solid win, and an exciting fight,” said Granados.

Hopefully, Benn doesn’t try and flurry on Granados in the opening round, hoping for a little help from the referee for a premature stoppage.

Benn has got to use these fights to develop because he had no amateur career. It’s not going to help him unloading on the over-the-hill fighters that are being fed to him by his promoters.