Conor Benn

Conor Nigel Benn (born 28 September 1996) is a British professional boxer.

He is the son of former two-division world champion of boxing, Nigel Benn.

Benn had a privileged upbringing due to his father Nigel's successful boxing career.

Twelve years of his childhood were spent on the Spanish island of Mallorca, where he lived with his family in a gated, eight-bedroom mansion with a pool, and had a Jacuzzi in his room.

Despite this, his father taught him financial self-reliance by never giving him money; Benn said he supported himself by "doing painting and decorating in Spain for €20 a day...from six to five".

He also spent time in Australia where he boxed as an amateur before starting his professional career.

Benn has been trained by Tony Sims since his professional debut, with his father, Nigel, having known and sparred with Tony since both of their respective boxing careers.

He made his professional debut in April 2016 aged 19 at The O2 Arena in London defeating Bulgarian Ivailo Boyanov by technical knockout in the first round.

He followed this with a points victory over Luke 'The Nuke' Keleher at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow in May, and a knockout of Lukas Radic in June On 10 September 2016, Benn was due to fight Silvije Kebet on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook.

After Silvije Kebet pulled out Benn defeated late replacement Joe Ducker by technical knockout in the second round to take his unbeaten record to 4–0.

On 24 September, Benn fought his first ever six round fight and was taken the distance by Ross Jameson.

Benn won a clear points decision.

This also marked his first time fighting at the Manchester Arena, a venue his father fought at many times at world championship level.

Benn was next due to fight at Wembley Arena in London on 26 November but pulled out four days earlier due to illness.

On 1 December, it was announced that Benn would be part of the Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina heavyweight title undercard at the Manchester Arena on 10 December.

His opponent was announced as Steven Backhouse.

Benn scored two knockdowns in round 1 and won the fight via knockout.

The first knockdown came just after the opening bell after a left hook.

Blackhouse never recovered and the fight was stopped just over a minute into the round.

After a lay off, it was announced that Benn would return to the O2 Arena on 1 July 2017.

Benn stopped Mike Cole after knocking him down following a left hook in round 3, recording his fifth stoppage victory.

It was announced that Benn would appear on an edition of NXTGEN on Sky Sports on 1 September 2017 alongside Olympians Joshua Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie and Joe Cordina.

Fighting at the York Hall for the first time in his career, Benn stopped previously unbeaten Kane Baker in round 2.

It was said that Benn would next fight on Anthony Joshua's next world title defence on 28 October at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

It was announced that Benn would return to the Manchester Arena on the undercard of Anthony Crolla vs. Ricky Burns on 7 October 2017.

Benn remained undefeated knocking out Nathan Clarke in the first round.

The fight lasted 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

In the post fight, Benn spoke about how his improvement in the gym has helped him fight better in the ring.

Promoter Eddie Hearn stated that Benn's next fight would be in the United States.

Benn made his American debut on 11 November fighting Mexican boxer Brandon Sanudo at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Benn scored his fifth consecutive knockout win, dropping Sanudo in round 2 with a left hook to the body.

The fight was stopped by the referee after just 1 minute of round 2.

Benn next fought at the York Hall in London on 13 December 2017 against French boxer Cedrick Peynaud.

Benn was dropped twice in the opening round, which was also the first time he was knocked down as a professional.

He beat the count both times and managed to drop Peynaud down in round 5 and 6.

The fight went to the referee's scorecard, who had the fight 57–54 in favour of Benn, maintaining his unbeaten run.

In January 2018, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) set out some purse bids for their titles.

One of the fights they ordered put Benn against Isaac MacLeod in an English welterweight title eliminator.

They stated the fight must take place by June 2018.

On 29 January 2018 it was announced that Benn would next fight on Amir Khan's UK return on 21 April at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, marking Benn's first fight in Merseyside.