BoxRec

Say's Eddie Hearn, who paid Mikey Garcia $5m to $7 million to fight Vargas.

Speaking on his own YouTube channel, fan-favourite heavyweight Allen was honest with his breakdown of how Benn performed, and how he rates him overall.

“I’m not a massive fan of things he’s said and done, but I don’t dislike him; I don’t know him too well. I’m happy for the success anyone has cause its a hard game but again some things I can never really agree with but if I’m honest.

“As fit as he is, as many punches as he throws, the fact that he beat Regis Prograis… he’s not a world-class man. He’s not a puncher, he’s honestly not a puncher. He was missing shots by a distance.

“I give Prograis credit for that cause Prograis is unbelievably clever. He can ride a shot, he’s slipping … He isn’t a puncher. He has got fast hands. The body work was great, it worked to slow Prograis down, beacuse after four or five I’m thinking Prograis is getting into this, but Tony Simms [told Conor] to work the body and it was spot on – slowed Prograis down and he was able to win the fight.

“But Prograis probably won two or three rounds. Whatever was up with him – injured, his legs were f***ed, he’s an old man and he’s ten pound above his best weight – you can’t be losing two or three rounds to Prograis.”

Speaking to Seconds Out, Benn’s former promoter Eddie Hearn had his say on the Brit’s performance as he claims he would advise his former fighter to move up in weight ahead of his next outing.

“Yeah, it was frustrating. I mean, Regis Prograis obviously shouldn’t have been in there. He could hardly stand up so I think Conor will be disappointed not to get him out of there, To be honest with you, I think Conor’s better off up the weights.

“I don’t think he looked like he had any power. He trains very, very hard and I don’t know whether it’s the weight or what it was, but he didn’t look to have any zip behind his punches.

“A lot of cuts, you know, it’s a messy fight, not the best. And sometimes that happens when you’re kind of just having treading water fights.”

Despite Hearn’s advice, Benn is expected to campaign at 147lbs going forward, looking to force his mandatory position to face WBC world welterweight champion Ryan Garcia next.

I knew he wasn't gonna be able to go back down to 147 in a healthy way after having gone up to 160, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the answer to his lack of punching power.

Truth is, he's just nearing his ceiling in terms of level of competition. You can't knock out guys that you aren't better than in a significant way in many cases.

I'd like to see him pursue the British and European titles at 154, and then go from there. Those are reasonable fights for him at this point, and things that I think would get people buzzing.

Who are the British and European Champs at that weight anyhow? I guess you might as well throw in 160 for good measure since that may also be something his team will be looking into.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 05:14 I knew he wasn't gonna be able to go back down to 147 in a healthy way after having gone up to 160, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the answer to his lack of punching power.

Truth is, he's just nearing his ceiling in terms of level of competition. You can't knock out guys that you aren't better than in a significant way in many cases.

I'd like to see him pursue the British and European titles at 154, and then go from there. Those are reasonable fights for him at this point, and things that I think would get people buzzing.

Who are the British and European Champs at that weight anyhow? I guess you might as well throw in 160 for good measure since that may also be something his team will be looking into.

Bilal Fawaz is the British champion at 154 and would stand Benn on his head. Benn is not British level

smiling assassin wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 05:41

gilgamesh wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 05:14 I knew he wasn't gonna be able to go back down to 147 in a healthy way after having gone up to 160, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the answer to his lack of punching power.

Truth is, he's just nearing his ceiling in terms of level of competition. You can't knock out guys that you aren't better than in a significant way in many cases.

I'd like to see him pursue the British and European titles at 154, and then go from there. Those are reasonable fights for him at this point, and things that I think would get people buzzing.

Who are the British and European Champs at that weight anyhow? I guess you might as well throw in 160 for good measure since that may also be something his team will be looking into.

Bilal Fawaz is the British champion at 154 and would stand Benn on his head. Benn is not British level

Bilal Fawaz is too good for Benn huh? I haven't seen Bilal fight, but his record doesn't exactly look like something that would have you shaking in your boots if you were any kind of decent fighter.

I think he'd damn sure rather take his chances with Fawaz as opposed to fighting George Liddard. Liddard would be a bigger fight though.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 06:06

smiling assassin wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 05:41

gilgamesh wrote: ↑15 Apr 2026, 05:14 I knew he wasn't gonna be able to go back down to 147 in a healthy way after having gone up to 160, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the answer to his lack of punching power.

Truth is, he's just nearing his ceiling in terms of level of competition. You can't knock out guys that you aren't better than in a significant way in many cases.

I'd like to see him pursue the British and European titles at 154, and then go from there. Those are reasonable fights for him at this point, and things that I think would get people buzzing.

Who are the British and European Champs at that weight anyhow? I guess you might as well throw in 160 for good measure since that may also be something his team will be looking into.

Bilal Fawaz is the British champion at 154 and would stand Benn on his head. Benn is not British level

Bilal Fawaz is too good for Benn huh? I haven't seen Bilal fight, but his record doesn't exactly look like something that would have you shaking in your boots if you were any kind of decent fighter.

I think he'd damn sure rather take his chances with Fawaz as opposed to fighting George Liddard. Liddard would be a bigger fight though.

100% liddard would be the bigger fight but they are both trained by Tony Sims.

We will never see Benn in a British title fight. He has earnt life changing money for his last 3 fights and he will continue to only fight for big money (fair enough). There is no one at British level where he will earn big money.

If Benn was to fight where other fighters of his ability fight he would be at York hall on a Friday night trying to sell 100 tickets to nick himself a couple of grand. That’s the top and bottom of it

Prograis wants boxing return at 40, says Benn needs to improve

Regis Prograis told The Ring he was retiring following his lopsided defeat to Conor Benn last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium live on Netflix.

However, it appears the former two-time world champion has already made a U-turn.

“I’ll come back in a few years,” Prograis told The Ring. “When I’m like 40 years old I’ll come back. It just won’t be at 140 pounds, but I’ll come back.”

The speed, power, and reflexes that made Prograis (30-4, 24 KOs) a world champion have not been on display for a couple of years now. But even a diminished version of the ex-junior welterweight titlist was enough to give Benn issues during a 150-pound catchweight bout.

Benn won the bout via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 98-92. The Ilford man, currently the WBC's No. 1 contender at 147 pounds, will now hope to go on and fight for a world titles.

Prograis, however, believes Benn needs to improve, especially if he's to fight Ryan Garcia.

“I think Conor Benn can become a world champion because anything can happen in boxing,” Prograis said. “Someone can vacate the belts and get elevated, just anything can happen but as for him as a fighter, he has some things to work on. He’s like a six out of 10. He’s not that good. He’s just not polished enough. He’s strong, not gonna lie. His power is like an 8.5. So he does have a lot of power but he’s not really polished right now.

“He has to work on his speed and set up shots. A lot of his punches I saw coming so I was able to brace for them. But he definitely has a few things to work on. Right now, he’s just a fighter, a rugged fighter.”

“I think [the Garcia fight] would be a pretty good fight. Garcia has power, but Benn does, too. I don’t know how Garcia would react if he got caught by Benn cause he can really punch. Both guys can hurt each other. That’s a good fight.”