Eddie Hearn says Conor Benn turned down fight at Premier League stadium, citing limitations
Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn has said that Conor Benn turned down a fight at a Premier League stadium because he was afraid of losing. Even though they worked together for 10 years, Hearn and Benn aren’t on good terms anymore. Benn supposedly made a deal with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing without telling Hearn first.
Benn won his first fight with Zuffa, beating former world champ Regis Prograis in April at Tyson Fury’s comeback event. Now, he’s signed a bigger deal with Zuffa for five fights over two and a half years. There’s talk about Benn fighting Ryan Garcia for the WBC world title, with both fighters chatting in interviews, but no official fight is set yet. Benn is the WBC’s top contender, so the fight could happen easily.
Hearn made a strong claim about Benn, saying he turned down some fights because “he knows his limits.” In an interview with Boxing News, Hearn said Benn was offered matches with Lewis Crocker, Rolando Romero, and Josh Kelly, but wasn’t interested, even when he could have fought Kelly at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Hearn said, “When Crocker won the world title, I thought, ‘Imagine Crocker v Benn at the O2 Arena for the world title!’ But Conor wasn’t keen. Then he started talking about weight rules and stuff. After that, I mentioned Rolando Romero, and Benn said it wasn’t a big enough fight. I told him he’d be fighting for the WBA world title in London and could beat Romero. Then I asked about Josh Kelly, and Benn just said, ‘I ain’t fighting Josh Kelly.’
I think he knows his limits. Why risk losing for little money when he can lose for more money?”