Conor Benn targets former unified champions Jose Ramirez and Keith Thurman after Kell Brook and Amir Khan retire from boxing

Conor Benn has turned his attention to fights against former unified champions Jose Ramirez and Keith Thurman after British boxing legends Kell Brook and Amir Khan recently announced their respective retirements.

Benn has been hoping to secure a big domestic fight against Brook or Khan but was unable to convince either man to return to the ring following their long-awaited and eagerly anticipated grudge match in February.

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The 25-year-old is now expected to face former WBO and WBC light-welterweight champion Ramirez on July 9 at the O2 Arena.

Benn is confident he will handle Ramirez before moving on to face Thurman, who previously held the WBA welterweight title from 2015 to 2019, and the WBC title from 2017 to 2018.

“You know, [Jose] Ramirez, Keith Thurman – all of them names I want,” Benn told talkSPORT Fight Night.

“It is a shame that there’s nothing on the line for the Ramirez fight considering his last fight was for the undisputed, unification.

“I’m confident in my ability to beat all of them.”

Benn insists he has nothing but respect for Brook and Khan, as well as their decision to call it a career rather than face him.

“I was the only fight there for them both if they did wanna fight,” he said.

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“People saying they’re ducking me; they’re not ducking me. Maybe they don’t wanna fight me, yeah, but they’re not ducking me.

“I’m not gonna go around and claim, ‘Oh yeah, they’re ducking me.’ It’s nothing like that. But would they wanna fight me now? They have everything to lose and not really much to gain.

“They’ve achieved everything they’ve wanted to achieve in the sport of boxing, everything a young fighter can dream of achieving. Listen, I take my hat off to them. They’re the best of their era in terms of British welterweight boxing.”

The son of British boxing icon, Nigel, appears to be on the brink of becoming a superstar despite having next to no amateur boxing experience.

Benn has managed to amass a 20-0 professional record that includes impressive wins over Sebastian Formella, Samuel Vargas, Adrián Granados, and Chris Algieri.