Eddie Hearn sees Conor Benn “three or four” fights away from world title conversation

Welterweight Conor Benn is set to face veteran Samuel Vargas in an Apr. 10 main event on DAZN and Sky Sports, and promoter Eddie Hearn sees Benn (17-0, 11 KO) on the rise, and figures this could be a big year for the second generation fighter.

Not only is Benn within a few fights of world title talk, but Hearn says he’d likely get a much-discussed fight with Josh Kelly if they both win their upcoming bouts:

“He is three or four fights away from finding out if he can be a world champion. When people talked about Josh Kelly vs Conor Benn [in the past] they thought it was a mismatch. Now they are talking about it as a 50-50 fight. That’s because of the improvement of Benn. If they both come through, expect to see them in the ring together later in 2021.”

Kelly (10-0-1, 6 KO) is set to challenge David Avanesyan for the European welterweight title on Feb. 20, so the fighters would line up well if he and Benn both win. That could even happen in the summer, but maybe later in 2021 would be the call. Either way.

Benn, 24, was solidly impressive in his Nov. 21 win over Sebastian Formella, a decent veteran. Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KO) presents a different style matchup, but not really a step up in competition, as the 31-year-old Colombian (now based in Canada) is pretty much the level of guy you call on to test a guy like Benn, or at least keep him busy.