‘I don’t need them’ – Conor Benn would love to fight Kell Brook and Amir Khan but is focused on winning a world title in 2022
Conor Benn wants to face British boxing legends Kell Brook and Amir Khan but insists he's focused on achieving his dream of becoming a world champion this year.
Benn, the son of British boxing icon, Nigel, appears to be on the brink of becoming a superstar. Despite having next to no amateur experience, the Londoner has managed to amass a 20-0 professional record that includes impressive wins over Sebastian Formella, Samuel Vargas, Adrián Granados, and Chris Algieri.
‘The Destroyer’ will return to the ring on April 16 to defend his WBA Continental welterweight title against long-time contender Chris van Heerden, who got the call to fight Benn after Brook seemingly priced himself out of what would’ve been an epic domestic dust-up.
“I’ll fight anyone,” Benn told . “I’m about progression in my career. There were talks with Kell Brook’s team. They were in negotiations hence the delayed announcement of my fight [with van Heerden] but I’m not going to wait around for anyone.
“He wanted £10 million which is silly, isn’t it? Talk about pricing yourself out. When I realised we were that far away from the numbers I was like, ‘Listen, scrap that fight. I ain’t waiting for negotiations [thinking] is this going to happen, is it not? Give me van Heerden.’”
Benn revealed Khan’s team has been trying to make a fight with him despite the fact ‘King’ looked shot during his sixth-round TKO defeat against Brook earlier this year.
The 25-year-old admits he’d love to fight both Brook and Khan but is not prepared to put his career on hold to negotiate a fight. Instead, he will focus on beating whatever opponent is put in front of him as he believes big opportunities and big fights are just around the corner.
“I think Khan’s team has been in touch again. Listen, I don’t need them. If they want to fight each other or if he [Kell Brook] wants to fight [Chris Eubank] Jr. You lot crack on it. It don’t really bother me.
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"I’m on my own path and my own trajectory. I don’t need to worry about what they’re doing. I’ve got a long career ahead of me, plenty of big nights. So, if I fight one of them, I’d love to because it’s idols to rivals. It is what it is. What will be will be."
Benn’s main priority for 2022 is to realise his dream of becoming a world champion and he’s confident of doing that after overcoming van Heerden next weekend.
The youngster says he is 'most definitely' ready to mix it with the best and even suggested he wants to face off against whoever wins the welterweight unification fight between Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugás.
Benn also expressed an interest in welcoming Josh Taylor to 147lbs in what would be a huge domestic fight.
The undisputed light-welterweight champion is expected to relinquish his titles in the near future after putting in a lacklustre performance in his controversial win over Jack Catterall last month.