Conor Benn is continuing his pursuit of a world title after returning from an 18-month lay-off and securing back-to-back decision wins in the United States, and he been given a boost after rising even higher in the WBC rankings.
Benn defeated game Mexican Rodolfo Orozco (32-3-3) in his comeback in September, before outpointing the previously undefeated Peter Dobson (16-0) two weeks ago, although the Briton has faced some criticism from fans for his performances in the bouts.
Despite both of Benn’s outings being above the welterweight limit of 147lbs, ‘The Destroyer’ has leaped above Josh Taylor and David Avanesyan to move to number 3 in the WBC welterweight rankings, as reported by Everything Boxing, and is likely to advance further.
“Conor Benn has now moved up two spots from #5 to #3 in the WBC welterweight rankings. The WBC champion is Terence Crawford, the interim champ is Mario Barrios, WBC #1 Cody Crowley (IBF Mandatory), WBC #2 Souleymane Cissokho (also with Matchroom).”
The 27-year-old now sits behind Mario Barrios (interim champion), Cody Crowley and Souleymane Cissokho and has been vocal in declaring his desire to face Barrios in the near future.
Meanwhile, Crowley is the mandatory challenger for the IBF crown and has now been ordered to take on their champion Jaron Ennis, in a clash that is being touted for the Canelo Alvarez undercard in early May.
Terence Crawford remains as the WBC champion of the division, but ‘Bud’ has been linked to a move up to the super-welterweight division or even possibly to the super-middleweight scene, meaning Benn could face Barrios for the vacant title down the line.
However, for now, a new candidate has emerged as the frontrunner for Benn’s next fight, although he has stipulated that any potential bout would need to take place up at 154lbs.