Legend Manny Pacquiao revealed today that he’s in talks with Matchroom Boxing stable fighter Conor Benn about a fight to take place in Saudi Arabia next.
The 45-year-old retired Pacquiao wants to get the fight with Benn done before he leaves Saudi Arabia, and he wants this match-up. If the fight gets made between Benn and Pacquiao, it would be a glorified celebrity-level match. Benn isn’t a world class fighter, and Pacquiao is old and retired.
It’s unclear what the purses would be for Pacquiao and the inexperienced, untested Benn would be from the Saudis, but it’s fair to say that it’s more than either of them will get anywhere else.
Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) says His Excellency Turki Alalshikh can make the fight happen, and he feels that the public is demanding the match. Obviously, Benn is being disingenuous because the boxing public is not asking for a fight between him and Pacquiao.
The fight they want to see involving Benn is against IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, but not because they feel Conor deserves a title shot. They just want to see Benn get massacred and exposed as being a pampered, manufactured fighter fighter with a totally inflated resume lacking world-class talent.
The Saudis can afford to lose money on a fight between Pacquiao and Benn, so it’s no big deal if it bombs badly on PPV. Putting this gimmick-level fight on pay-per-view will be a controversial move, as Benn is NOT a household name in the U.S, as he’s never fought a top 15 contender during his eight-year professional career, and is mostly known for being the son of British legend, Nigel Benn.
Selling a fight between Pacquiao and Benn in the UK might work, but not in the United States, where fans will turn up their noses at this trainwreck and be appalled at it even happening. Benn should be fighting top-level contenders at 147 to further his career, as he’s done nothing aside from beating two old, washed fighters, Chris Van Heerden and Chris Algieri, and a handful of no-names.
“You heard Manny Pacquiao say that he wants to get this done before he goes home, and he’s only here for the next couple of days. He wants to get this done in the next 48 hours,” said DAZN commentator Ade Oladipo to the Matchrooom Boxing YouTube channel about a fight between the 45-year-old legend Manny Pacquiao and Conor Benn having a fight in the works for Saudi Arabia.
