As fight fans know, unbeaten British welterweight Conor Benn wil be in action live on DAZN at 3 pm ET / 8 pm UK later today in Las Vegas, against fellow unbeaten Peter Dobson. Benn has violence on his mind, and he says he will “go straight at” Dobson, this in an effort to “tear his head off.” Dobson, who says he is “the best kept secret in boxing,” has been smiling, and shaking, whilst listening to Benn talk.
Dobson, 16-0(9) is insistent Benn is “too green” for him and that he is “too dumb” to defeat him. Benn insists Dobson is scared of him, hence the leg-shaking we have seen from Dobson; who in turn says that “don’t mean s**t before a fight.”
Benn as we know, will be having just his second fight back after being embroiled in a taxing effort at clearing his name following those two extremely well-documented failed drugs tests. Benn really does look to be fired up. But could we see an upset tonight (tonight UK time)? Are the ingredients for an upset, or some of them, in the pot:
Benn is looking past his opponent as he desires a bigger fight next? Check. Benn is focused only on scoring a KO and he may be overly aggressive and may walk into something during the fight? Check. Benn knows almost nothing about Dobson? Check. Benn has a heck of a lot on his mind due to to the drugs tests thing and this could affect his mental game in the fight? Check. Benn is fighting a naturally bigger man? Check.
Can you smell possible upset here? For what it’s worth, I can, and I’m picking Dobson to pull it off and stop Benn today, possibly early in the fight. Benn will indeed come out smoking, and he will get tagged by a counter by Dobson. The knock on Dobson is his inactivity, with the 33 year old not having boxed since June of 2022. But Dobson, who had a solid amateur career, is Bronx tough, he has sparred numerous big names, including Terence Crawford, Boots Ennis, Erickson Lubin, with “Pistol Pete” having trained for a time at the Mayweather Gym, and Dobson says Benn and his team have made a huge mistake in taking this fight.
Benn, 22-0(14) has been knocked down before, and to repeat, he is the naturally smaller man here. Dobson says he has been avoided and now that he has finally got himself a big fight he will make the most of it. Has Dobson got the superior game plan going into today’s fight? Has 27 year old Benn got any Plan B for in case the quick KO that is uppermost on his mind doesn’t come?
Again, a number of the ingredients needed for an upset seem to be here with this one. Going out on a limb, the pick here is for Dobson to take some real heat early on, before tagging a rampaging and careless Benn with a big shot of his own to turn the fight on its head and get the sensational stoppage win.
Pick: Dobson to stop Benn inside four rounds in a slugfest.
