Connor Benn makes his return to the ring this week, where he intends on capping off a stellar year for the young fighter.
‘The Destroyer’ has made sizeable improvements to his ring-craft this year and will look to place the cherry on top of the cake with a knockout victory on Wednesday night at London’s York Hall.
Conor Benn caught up with Boxing Social to talk all things boxing and he paid particular focus towards last weekend’s super-featherweight world title action between two, two-time Olympic Gold medalists in the form of Vasyl Lomachenko vs Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Benn shared he was shocked at Rigondeaux’s decision to surrender on his stool following the sixth round and delivered a scathing assesment of ‘El Chacal’s decision.
“I was shocked, I was really shocked.”
“Whereas in my camp, I had Ricky Burns who broke his jaw in a fight in the third or fourth round. He carried on through the twelfth round (with a) broken jaw!”
“I can’t believe Rigondeaux didn’t come out. I can’t believe he just (said) my hand hurt.” Benn added.
In response to how he would react in the same situation as Rigondeaux, where a superior adversary is dismantling you in a slow fashion and effectively makes a mockery of your skillset and renders your abilities useless.
Benn abruptly responded, “You deal with it.”
“You are a fighter, if you (are in a situation) where you are being out-techniqued (outboxed), you go in there and you at least show you have heart.”
Benn shared that it is not in his DNA to admit defeat while he still has something left to offer in the midst of battle.
“You don’t sit on the stool and sulk because you are not getting it your own way.”
“Go out there and do whatever you have to do to win. You are a fighter, find a way. If you don’t find a way, get knocked out.”
When you are a fighter, you can’t just say I can’t be bothered now or I’m just going to sit here because my hand hurts or because I’m getting schooled. That is my opinion.”
Benn also shared that prior to that fight, Rigondeaux was a fighter he really enjoyed following.
“I really rated Rigondeaux, I thought he was an absolutely mustard fighter.”
Benn, on a final note, concluded that while there are a lot of fighters with masterful technical skills. He stated his view that the heart is the most crucial component in making a great fighter.
“It says a lot about the heart, yeah there are technically gifted fighters out there but when it comes down to it, have they really got the heart to see it through if they are getting pummelled through the eleventh round. Then go out in the twelfth and give it their all.”
“I think that is a fighter,” Benn added.
SKY LIVE! @KatieTaylor@MartinJWard1@ConorNigel@Lawrence_TKO@JoeCordina_91 and many more all feature at York Hall this Wednesday… https://t.co/0BB2A8Nfptpic.twitter.com/l9fqUSR2yi
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) December 11, 2017
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