Promoter Eddie Hearn says Conor Benn’s fight on Saturday against Chris van Heerden will be his last before going ‘into the real deep end’.
The unbeaten British welterweight (20-0, 13 KOs) plans to put on another powerful hard-hitting performance against the South African having blasted out former world champion Chris Algieri in December.
Ranked in the top 5 across three of the four governing bodies Benn is closing in on big fights that will prove whether or not he can become world champion.
“This will be his last little test before he jumps in with a Kell Brook, a Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, an Adrien Broner, a Keith Thurman – one of those elite names,” Hearn told the Daily Mail.
Benn’s career has been plotted carefully with his team picking the right fights at the right time. The fighter himself has called for bouts against some of the names above but says he trusts the process.
The 25-year-old has gone from wild gunslinger to a more polished and rounded boxer thanks to the hard work he and trainer Tony Sims have put in together. It’s been five years since he was dropped twice in his six-round thriller against Cedrick Peynaud and ‘The Destroyer’ has barely put a foot wrong in the nine fights that followed. However, the real tests are still to come.
“The growth of Conor Benn is astonishing,” said Hearn. “I don’t say that disrespectfully, but when I first watched him… to think he’s on the verge of a welterweight world title is incredible.”