Nigel Benn has responded to his son Conor’s latest callout of Gervonta Davis and doesn’t want it, instead naming his own three-man hit list.
Following on from Benn’s last outing on February 3 against Pete Dobson on his Las Vegas debut, he took to X to start firing up debate with potential new opponents.
He named a five-man hitlist and one of them was quick to respond. That man was multi-weight champion Davis, who was then reportedly sent a contract to fight from Benn’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
Since then things have gone quiet but now Benn’s father and legendary British fighter Nigel has come out to say he doesn’t like the sound of that one.
Speaking to Fruity Slots, he says it is too soon to face Davis and that first, he must meet with the British Boxing Board of Control to get his license back.
““It’s a big fight, but me personally, I’d love to see the fight, but not now. I think he needs to get his name cleared so he’s in the right frame of mind, this has been lingering now for almost two years – we are yet to see a quarter of Conor’s potential – but I just don’t want him to rush into something.
“He needs to have a clear mind. Get himself back on track, two or three more fights, and then Gervonta. There was a lot of pressure on him in his last fight, he should have had another fight after the one in Orlando before the one he’s just had, so he’s just got to build himself back up again.”
He then stated the importance of his son getting his head in the right place before such big fights.
“He’s definitely got to clear his head, you’ve got to understand, the last few years he’s been through so much. We’re nearly there now at the finishing line. Because you’ve got to understand, when he’s taking all of these fights, he’s got so much going on in his head – so much.”
He then outlined his wish-list for his son.
“I would like to see three fights next: Mario Barrios, Chris Eubank Jr or Liam Smith. He’s ready for Eubank and Smith right now – I’m not worried about Eubank whatsoever. In the second fight against Eubank, Smith threw 34 punches, what’s that all about? You can see his ankles were all over the place.
“For the first round Eubank was holding on for dear life and then after three rounds he realised nothing was coming back because Smith never threw nothing. That was a shell of a man, that wasn’t the Smith we knew. We’d take Smith or Eubank wherever whenever.”
“I hope the Eubank fight does happen, where else is he going to go. The only big payday he’s going to get is with Conor, no-one else because the champions they could put him in with – I believe he will get beat.
“If he wants a big payday, it’s only Conor Benn. He’s saying Conor needs to clear his name, I understand, Conor will clear his name, but is he ready for Conor? Because Conor’s ready for him.””
Any of these fights would represent big nights for Benn as he tries to establish himself on the world stage.