Conor Benn is the sort of boxer that Eddie Hearn, his promoter, likes to say “does good numbers”. Once upon a time, that description would have meant he sold lots of tickets, then it would have related to his television viewing figures. However, Benn does good numbers “digitally”, but the challenge is to make him into a world-class fighter, not just a social media star.
Benn — the son of Nigel, the former two-weight world champion — has a good backstory, but if he beats Samuel Vargas tonight, he will have shown he is much more than any hype that surrounds him.
The 24-year-old welterweight admits it wasn’t always that way. To say he was raw when he made his professional debut at the O2 Arena five years ago, on the night Anthony Joshua first became a world champion, would be a huge understatement. He could fight, but he couldn’t really box. He had no defence to really speak of and while things tended to be exciting, it was difficult to imagine he would ever be boxing for titles. Now he has a world title in his sights.
To some, reading the narrative of the young boxer following in his father’s footsteps, success was likely for Benn. When he made a brief appearance with his father on television as a youngster, that was already a story being told. “It was all smoke,” Benn said. “There wasn’t any substance behind it.
“It was a fluke at first. It was like, ‘let’s see how far we go’. I didn’t think it would be very far. I was getting paid all right, walking around saying ‘I’m a boxer’. You’re young and being a fighter was ‘cool’.
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“I had a turning point where I thought ‘actually, I can be good at this’. I’ve become a good fighter from that mindset. You just have to keep it going and stay dedicated and you’ll reach the end goal.”
Benn turned a few heads with his dominant victory over Sebastian Formella in November. Vargas, a Colombian who boxes out of Canada, is another step up. On a previous trip to Britain, three years ago, he knocked down Amir Khan before losing on points. He has also shared the ring with other world champions Danny Garcia, Luis Collazo and Errol Spence Jr, the present WBC and IBF champion.
Khan is one of the names being thrown about as a future Benn opponent if he gets past Vargas. It won’t be next, or soon, but Benn believes if things go to plan, he can have a busy year and be boxing for a world title in 2022.
“Touch wood, I don’t have an injuries and I can get out three or four times this year and [then] potentially a world-title eliminator at the end of the year,” Benn said. “A European title, the Amir Khans, the Kell Brooks. These are the sort of fights I believe the public want.
“It’s a fantastic division, so I will do what I need to do with Vargas and push on from there. I’ve just got to win a world title once, just once. Then I’ll be a very happy man.”
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Vargas, though, is not the type to give Benn an easy night. At 31, he is not likely to have any realistic world-title ambitions himself, but victory over Benn would open up a number of lucrative fights for him.
“This is to see where we’re at,” Benn said. “He’s been in with the best fighters of our generation. He’s going to bring one hell of a fight but I believe I’ve got all the tools to put on a destructive performance, which I believe I can do. I’m a contender and I’m constantly proving that.
“I’m a strong believer in hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I don’t muck around, I’m not here to play this game.”
The bill, which has been switched to the Copper Box in East London from Wembley Arena, features two female world title fights.
Savannah Marshall makes the first defence of her WBO middleweight title against Marian Lindberg, a 44-year-old from Sweden who first boxed for this belt a decade ago.
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Lindberg is a late substitute for European champion Femke Hermans, who was ruled out after a member of her team failed a Covid test.
Shannon Courtenay and Ebanie Bridges will contest the vacant WBA bantamweight title, despite the pair having just 12 professional bouts between them.
