Promoter Eddie Hearn isn’t exactly aiming high for British welterweight Conor Benn if he gets through his fight against little-known second-tier American fighter Peter Dobson this Saturday night in their 12-round contest at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas.
Hearn’s Matchmaking Plans
Hearn says that he wants to match the 27-year-old Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) against these three British fighters:
1. Chris Eubank Jr.
2. Kell Brook
3. Liam Smith
Those are truly awful choices that Hearn is aspiring to put Benn in with, and it would seem that he’s focusing on shielding Conor from facing the truly talented fighters of this generation.
Celebrity Circuit vs. World Title Aspirations
These are essentially celebrity-level fights because all three are washed up and not world-level fighters. You can argue that career underachiever Eubank Jr. never got beyond the fringe level, and one gets the sense that Hearn is beating a dead horse by continuing to push for the Benn-Eubank Jr. fight. It’s an idea that is stale and has run its course.
“People are probably bored of me talking about Eubank, but it still baffles me that Chris Eubank did not take that fight against a guy that is two divisions lower than him,” Hearn said to Matchroom Boxing.
“A payday two or three times bigger than he can get anywhere else in the world. I never say a fighter is ducking or scared, but it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Away from Chris Eubank Jr, Kell Brook, Liam Smith, two fights that I love in the UK, but also the ability to bring a US name over.”
The way that Hearn is matching Benn, it looks like he’s being kept on the celebrity circuit and isn’t a fighter that he has any true intentions of throwing in with the killers in the welterweight division to see if he has any of his famous father, Nigel Benn’s talent.
Calls for Tougher Tests
We know he can beat old guys like Chris Van Heerden and Chris Algieri, but how about putting Conor Benn in with these fighters at 147 to see if he’s got the ability to fight true world-class opposition:
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
- Giovani Santillan
- Roiman Villa
- Subriel Matias
- Devin Haney
