Conor Benn returns to action against Regis Prograis in April, and former champion Barry McGuigan has offered his thoughts on the contest.
Benn fought twice last year with very different results against his long-time rival Chris Eubank Jr. First time out, he was beaten across the 12 rounds despite putting in plenty of effort, but the rematch saw him knock his man down multiple times en route to his own unanimous decision.
Since then, he has set his sights on a world title and called out the likes of Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero, but has instead switched promotional outfit to Zuffa Boxing and settled on ageing former champion Prograis on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s comeback bout against Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Writing for his column in The Mirror, McGuigan first assessed the level of Prograis compared to the men Benn has been calling out.
“Prograis is not in their class. Josh Taylor beat him up at super lightweight when he was in his prime. At 37, he has not been paired with Benn to win.”
He then broke down how the fight might go while sounding a note of caution about where Benn is at right now.
“Prograis will stand and fight, and Conor will get him out of there, so it will look good. But the evidence that he can go higher has yet to be established. That said, there is every chance he can win a title, but it’s still a hell of a gamble by Zuffa.
“Benn is certainly an exciting fighter. He believes in himself absolutely and leaves it all on the pitch. But that does not make him a world champion.”
