Boxing

Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson or someone else? What about Conor Benn now?

Published

6 months ago

April 12, 2026

LONDON – After a unanimous decision victory over Regis Prograis on Saturday, Conor Benn’s biggest fight will now be against Ryan Garcia.

Welterweight fighter Benn (25-1, 14 KO), 29, had a lot going for him in his non-title fight against Prograis (30-4, 24 KO) in front of around 60,000 spectators at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after deciding to switch promoters from Matchroom to Zuffa Boxing as part of a lucrative contract.

Was it worth his reported $15 million payday? Benn was unable to secure the knockout that would have sealed a dominant performance and provided real value for money, but he only lost two rounds and the victory still boosts his welterweight world title hopes by the end of the year.

Much like Tyson Fury’s victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Benn’s UD victory over former junior welterweight champion Prograis was a stepping stone to something bigger.

While Fury is eyeing a potential megafight with fellow former champion Anthony Joshua, Benn is only targeting the biggest names in the welterweight division, with American Garcia at the top of his wish list.

Benn, who lives in Essex, described it as “the best decision of my career” to leave Matchroom for Zuffa and face Prograis in a ten-round non-title fight, fighting three pounds over the welterweight limit.

Prograis, 37, from Up-to-date Orleans but based in Las Vegas, earlier this week denied suffering an injury during training, but the American’s movements seemed confined and prevented him from applying sustained pressure.

After losing the WBC junior welterweight title to Devin Haney on points in 2023, it was Prograis’ third loss in four fights and sent him into retirement.

Benn is now a free agent after signing a one-fight deal, although Zuffa is expected to be a prime candidate to work with him again. The biggest one for Zuffa and Benn would be Garcia. Benn is desperate to fight for his first world title, and preferably the WBC belt, which his father Nigel held at super middleweight from 1992 to 1995.

Garcia seemed to welcome the reunion on social media, saying, “I’m depressed. Garcia vs. Benn. Let’s do it.”

Like Benn, Garcia is loud and there will be enough nonsense to ensure the viewership will make it one of the most watched boxing events this year, potentially on Netflix.

Garcia (25-2, 20 KO), the 27-year-old Los Angeles native, won the WBC belt with a UD points victory over Mario Barrios in February, and his hand speed will make this his toughest test yet for Benn, even if jumping two weight classes to face English rival Eubank was quite the task.

WBO champion and ESPN welterweight No. 1 Devin Haney (33-0-1 NC, 15 KO), Brian Norman (28-1, 22 KO), who lost to Haney on points in November, and WBA champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero (17-2, 13 KO) are the next candidates to fight Benn, who is commercially attractive to Zuffa due to his drawing power in the UK in the last three fights taking place in front of huge gates in open-air stadiums in London.

Romero caused an upset when he unanimously overtook Garcia in Times Square almost a year ago and was most recently linked to a title unification fight with Haney.

IBF belt holder Lewis Crocker is promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom, so it seems unlikely he would fight Benn now.

Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KO), the WBO junior welterweight champion, is another option, but the American’s deft skills and movement would be a arduous challenge for Benn and a surprising choice for Zuffa given the investment in the English boxer.

However, a fight against Garcia, who has nearly 13 million followers on social media, is likely to attract the attention of more than just die-hard boxing fans and will certainly be Zuffa’s No. 1 priority.

Whoever Benn faces next – Garcia, Romero, Haney and Teofimo Lopez are top picks – the English boxer can expect a tougher fight than Prograis.

The catchweight limit of 150 pounds (three pounds above the welterweight limit) was the lowest Benn has fought since 2022, following two middleweight fights against Chris Eubank Jr. and prohibition following a positive drug test.

There was some concern that Benn would be weakened by the weight cut, but he showed unrelenting performance and a forceful jab in the first half of the fight.

It was nasty at times – Benn was caught lunging too much for the southpaw Prograis.

Benn finished the fight with cuts around both eyes, but his work rate and aggression kept the decision open (98-92 on all three scorecards).

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley’s Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.

Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.

As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley's Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Boxing

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Published

11 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxing's Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!

Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape

“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.

“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.

“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”

On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far

“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.

“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”

On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together

“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”

On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart

“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”

On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates

“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.

“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“

On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title

“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”

On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved

“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”