Keith Connolly wants Conor Benn to get a win before pursuing a third fight with Chris Eubank Jr. at 168 pounds. That sounds like a straightforward comeback plan after Benn’s second-round knockout loss to Ryan Garcia. Finding the right opponent for that first step may be harder than arranging the trilogy itself.
“Maybe after we get a win, maybe we’ll do that Chris Eubank trilogy up at 168 pounds, so that there’s no excuses about weight,” Connolly said on The Last Stand podcast.
The chances that Zuffa Boxing attempts to feed Conor Benn an easy mark are practically zero. Dana White does not operate a traditional boxing promotional outfit designed to coddle fighters, nor does his business model tolerate overpaying for low-risk, one-sided exhibitions.
When Zuffa signed Benn to a multi-fight deal, they bought an established UK name with commercial recognition. They did not sign up to pay elite purse figures for Benn to trade leather with an unranked journeyman on a Paramount+ broadcast. Benn got a substantial paycheck to face Regis Prograis and another massive purse to challenge Ryan. Expecting that level of financial compensation against a fringe fighter with no drawing power is disconnected from promotional reality.
The fundamental issue is that there are no guaranteed safe outcomes when Benn steps inside the ropes. His reckless fighting style leaves him vulnerable against anyone possessing basic counterpunching ability and legitimate power. Benn struggled for twelve grueling rounds to scrape past a 37-year-old Prograis, looking thoroughly ordinary before Ryan detonated him in two rounds. When a fighter has obvious defensive holes and suspect punch resistance, even an opponent selected to lose poses a genuine knockout threat.
If Zuffa stages a headline event around Benn, they have to market it to a paying audience and satisfy network metrics. Putting him in with an overmatched target will draw immediate mockery from the boxing public and kill off whatever residual interest remains in a trilogy with Chris Eubank Jr. If Benn insists on commanding world-class money, Zuffa will demand an opponent with an active pulse who creates real competitive intrigue. For Benn, that means taking another dangerous opponent when his punch resistance is already shattered.