Conor Benn was on his hind legs today, calling out Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, saying he’s ready to fight the unbeaten IBF welterweight champion. Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) says he’ll fight the unbeaten Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) or the other champions at 147, Mario Barrios and Eimantas Stanionis.
Benn looked kind of crazed when he talked about wanting to take on Ennis, and he may not have been thinking too clearly about what the Americans would do to him.
If Benn is serious about wanting a fight against Boots, it suggests that he’s starting to understand that his career is viewed as a sham. He’s seen as a fake, a fighter matched purposefully against tomato cans to build an inflated record for marketing purposes to sell him to the UK public.
The 28-year-old Benn has fought largely nobody during his career other than a faded 37-year-old Chris Algieri in 2021.
Benn wouldn’t even rate as a tune-up fight for Jaron Ennis because he’s too average, and he’s looked horrible in his recent fights against Peter Dobson and Rodolfo Orozco.
Conor is not serious about wanting to fight Boots or any of the champions right now because he’s being lined up for a fight against middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. Those two were supposed to fight in 2022, but Benn got popped for a PED, which ruined those plans stalled out his career.
Even if Benn wanted to fight Boots Ennis, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, would veto that idea. Hearn is saving Benn for Eubank Jr because it’s one that the Brits love and it’s expected to be staged in Riyadh. It’ll be shown on DAZN PPV, and it’s going to be interesting to see if it brings in a respectable number of buys.
It’ll probably do well in the UK because these two are the equivalent of celebrity-level boxers and not serious ones over there. In the U.S., fans don’t rate Benn or Eubank Jr. at all. They’re not must-watch TV. They’re at the scrub level.
Eubank Jr. didn’t impress in his recent fight on October 12th, stropping journeyman Kamil Szeremeta in the seventh round on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Benn Calls Out Jaron Ennis
“Come on, give me Ennis, no problem. Give me Barrios. Give me Stanionis. I don’t shy away from nobody. I’m willing to go up to 160 to fight somebody they say I can’t beat,” said Conor Benn to Fight Hub TV, referring to the career underachiever Chris Eubank Jr.
“So, then come down to 147. I’m a fighting man. This is what we do; this is our life. You never shy away from a fight. You go out on your shield. It’s who you are. It’s your DNA; it’s your makeup. You don’t get far in this game if you’re scared to fight anybody,” said Benn.
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