Benn made number one challenger for WBC title

[Ruthless-RKO]

Benn made number one challenger for WBC title

Britain's Conor Benn has been made the number one challenger to Mario Barrios' WBC welterweight world title.

Benn, 29, was ranked number four in the WBC and has not fought at the welterweight limit since February 2022.

The WBC made the announcement at its annual convention, but Barrios is expected to defend his belt against fellow American Ryan Garcia next.

"I'll be watching Barrios-Garcia closely," Benn said on social media.

"I want the winner early next year. I'll be coming for that belt and Britain will have a new world champion."

Barrios, 30, has drawn both of his WBC defences, including in July when he fought to a controversial draw with Manny Pacquiao.

Garcia, 27, is unranked by the WBC, having had one fight at welterweight, while Benn has not fought any of the contenders in the top 10 of the WBC welterweight rankings.

The Barrios-Garcia bout is expected to happen in February.

Benn had two fights with Chris Eubank Jr at middleweight this year, winning their rematch last month.

He has repeatedly said he intends to move back down to welterweight and said winning the WBC belt was his top priority.

[Ruthless-RKO]

not fought at the weight in nearly 3 years.

beat Eubank at MW and now he's jumped the rankings at 147..

you cant make this shit up

[MPW]

Wasn't he just rated fourth or fifth by the WBC at middleweight?

[joshj909]

I wonder how much Hearn is paying for those rankings

[joshj909]

WBC should rank Benn at heavyweight and make him fight Dubois

[Flump]

It's absurd. They fabricate an excuse for him failing a drugs test, then rank him number one in a division he hasn't fought in for the best part of 4 years.

I'd say unbelievable, but as Sulaiman jnr is every bit as fond of money as his father was, and even more of an attention ho, very believable.

[MasterG]

Effing hell. The guy ain't won shit not even an area title and the WBC rank him number 1.

Ah well, such as life

[KiwiRider]

not fought at the weight in nearly 3 years.

beat Eubank at MW and now he's jumped the rankings at 147..

you cant make this shit up

it is some bullsh*t alright.
Did he get dropped down the rankings when Eubank beat him the first time, or just went up with this win at a completely different weight?

[rd350lc]

Boxing is going through a very odd time.
Nothing could surprise you any more.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

[MasterG]

Boxing is going through a very odd time.
Nothing could surprise you any more.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

I'm finding BKB more interesting. BKB48 was a decent night's action

Good to see Lucas Browne fully understand that gloves are better on than off.

[stujones]

I've seen worst people at #1 if he had fought his last fight at 147 - even if it was a bum..... (and I do mean worse people, not saying it would be particularly good call) - but to have him at 147 when he hasn't fought there for so long is a joke.

Eubank was perhaps bizarely seemingly independently ranked in the top 5 at Middleweight - so why not rank Connor at Middleweight.

[rd350lc]

Boxing is going through a very odd time.
Nothing could surprise you any more.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

I'm finding BKB more interesting. BKB48 was a decent night's action

Good to see Lucas Browne fully understand that gloves are better on than off.

Never seen any bare knuckle stuff, looks absolutely brutal tbh.

[lefthook82]

Imagine if Queensbury celebrated every number 1 challenger fro the WBO. Embarrassing

[stujones]

Uk boxing seem to have that run one time of fighters highly ranked (maybe number 1 ranked) and then got their shot - and while good fighters, ultimately outclassed.

Brian Rose
Michael Jennings (definately deserving of o title shot, but always felt like a mission impossible vs Cotto)
Gary Lockett
Gavin Rees
Lee Purdy (originally scheduled for the title)

There were others also Benn's ranking (even as a career long welterweight) felt similar to some of these - but add the fact he hasn't fought at Welter for ages.

[jameswilson]

Delighted for him. Such an honest lad. Hard to think of anyone who deserves it more.

[a force]

Awful. Just awful.

[CaptainSpacerod]

Delighted for him. Such an honest lad. Hard to think of anyone who deserves it more.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[KiwiRider]

Awesome. Can't wait to not pay for that

[Stobbo]

The mind boggles

[black panther]

Delighted for him. Such an honest lad. Hard to think of anyone who deserves it more.

Worked so hard, did it the proper traditional way without any favours and never avoided anyone. Fought the who's who of avoided men. Now it's all paid off.

The righteous WBC who are never swayed by promotor influence or how much money a fighter can make them have followed their long tradition of rewarding only those fighters who are truly deserving of title shots with a mandatory position.

If anything it should have come sooner given how many top welterweights Benn has beaten in recent years both domestically and internationally. The last 3.5 years he's fought a grand total of effall ranked welterweights like the might Peter Dobson currently ranked highly (#145) on boxrec. Tremendous. Boxing does it again.

[Ruthless-RKO]

EDDIE HEARN DEFENDS WBC DECISION TO MAKE CONOR BENN NO. 1 WELTERWEIGHT

Eddie Hearn has defended the WBC’s decision to install Conor Benn as their next mandatory challenger at welterweight.

It was confirmed during the WBC’s annual convention, which took place in Thailand last week, that the 29-year-old will be called to face whoever wins between 147-pound champion Mario Barrios and Ryan Garcia in the new year.

But that decision has been criticised given that it is now three-and-a-half years since Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) last boxed at welterweight, a second round stoppage of Chris van Heerden. Both his fights with Chris Eubank Jr. this year have taken place at middleweight and he weighed a career-heaviest 159 ¼ pounds for the second one, which he won via unanimous decision.
Now his promoter Hearn, who is ‘over the moon' at the WBC’s decision, has confirmed they requested to maintain their place in the 147-pound rankings instead of taking a spot at middleweight.

“My honest assessment is that I get it,” he said of the WBC’s decision. “Conor against the winner of Barrios against Garcia is a massive fight.

“To be fair I think it's a fight that would have happened whether he was mandatory or not but I'm over the moon.

“Conor Benn was in the welterweight rankings before the Chris Eubank fight. Now, when he beat Chris Eubank, who was top 10 with most middleweight sanctioning bodies, the WBC came to us and said: ‘do you want us to rank you at middleweight? You've just beaten a top 10 middleweight’.

“So we probably would have gone in the top five at middleweight but we said: ‘no, we want to stay at 147’.

“The answer is, if you're in the rankings at that point, do you acknowledge that really impressive victory against Eubank? You can't move Conor backwards after that win.”

Benn has made no secret of his desire to win the WBC title in particular, because it was a belt his dad Nigel won. That green and gold strap hangs in Benn’s gym to this day and now he wants one of his own to go alongside it.

Barrios and Garcia appear close to finalising a deal to meet for the welterweight belt early next year so Benn is now in line to face the winner at some point in the summer of 2026.

Hearn added: “I do get the argument that moving him to No. 1 is high but I also get the argument that if you win a fight of that magnitude, against a top-10 ranked opponent like Eubank, especially in the middleweight division, you can't just ignore it.

“You can’t just keep him where he is after a win like that. You have to move up. So, maybe the argument was he shouldn't have been there in the first place with that inactivity at 147.

“But, given the win, I also understand now that it's a big fight for the division. Listen, I'm over the moon and approaching that fight as the mandatory challenger, we're very grateful.”

[Boxerbeetle]

I honestly don’t mind this at all, much better than Conor going back to facing completely past-it fighters / non-punchers. Hope this actually comes off.

[Bigdogsnose]

Whats Benn gonna do with his exhalted ranking though? I actually think he might be in a tight spot. He could struggle to make 147. 154 is full of killers. 160s shit but he is way too small.

Hopefully he really struggles to get down to 147 and gets found out. Be a bit of poetic justice (not that i have any sympathy for eubank, who is actually every bit the prick Benn is)

[Ruthless-RKO]

Quicker he steps up, the quicker he gets found out