Conor Benn fights Chris Eubank Jr. next month and will be hoping to put on the best showing of his career.
These two British rivals were set to fight for the first time in October 2022. Back then, Benn was on a good run of form and had stopped a number of opponents including Samuel Vargas and Chris Algieri.
He was making a name for himself in the welterweight division and was proving just as popular outside the ring with his passionate war cries.
However, a failed drug test ahead of the fight with Eubank rather set him back. More than two years have passed as he battled to clear his name and, in that time, he had just two low-key fights out in the US, which he won on the cards.
So far in his campaign, just one close night at the office stands out and that was in 2017 against Frenchman Cedrick Peynaud, who twice knocked the Brit down in the first round. Benn would rally and drop Peynaud in the fifth and sixth before winning a points decision. The pair rematched a year later and Benn again took it on the cards.
The 28-year-old must now move up two weights to take on the considerably bigger and more experienced Eubank. Ahead of that, Peynaud has been speaking to World Boxing News and has praised his former opponent.
“Eubank will have the weight advantage for me because that’s his base weight class. But I think Benn, with his speed, could surprise more than one [person]. Now we’ll see what strategy he implements. But Benn has everything he needs to become a world champion. Whether he’ll achieve that goal remains to be seen.”
