Conor Benn has called for several high-profile fights during his Matchroom Boxing career, but former promoter Eddie Hearn appears to have ruled out one potential inside fight.

Since Benn’s departure from Matchroom, Hearn has been open about previous discussions about the welterweight’s career, most recently claiming that Benn turned down proposed world title fights against Rolando Romero, Lewis Crocker and Josh Kelly.

Now former IBF and WBC welterweight champion Jaron Ennis has revealed that he insisted on fighting Benn while both fighters were aligned with Hearn, but the idea was immediately rejected.

Speaking on All The Smoke Fight PodcastEnnis said:

“I told Eddie to let me fight him.

“I said I would fight Conor, him [Hearn] he turned around and said “absolutely not”. I’ll get in trouble, but he said “absolutely not.” But I tried to get him.

“Boots” Ennis – who was described by his promoter as “the next Terence Crawford” – praised Benn and suggested he continues to improve in recent performances.

“He’s good and I think he’s getting better.”

Ennis is currently preparing to fight Xander Zayas for the unified super welterweight title next monthand the American intends to become the champion of the second weight category. If Benn moves up to 154 pounds in the future, Hearn may be more interested in making this fight happen after a promotional split.

Meanwhile, the Briton plans to challenge Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight belt later this year.

A heavyweight fight that lasted mere seconds became one of the most talked about boxing clips of the weekend. Viktor Jurk knocked out Edwin Castillo with one left hand moments after the opening bell on Friday night at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany, in the Karen Chukhadzhian vs. Paddy Donovan IBF welterweight title eliminator bout.

The fight was broadcast DAZN internationally and at ARD in Germany. According to RingJurk, a 6-foot-9 southpaw from Flensburg, stepped to the center of the ring and threw a looping left hand that dropped Castillo to the canvas, where he stayed for a few minutes before recovering and leaving on his own.

WAS THIS THE FASTEST Knockout In The World?!?! 😱#ChukhajianDonovan | Live NOW on DAZN ▪️ pic.twitter.com/nkAXTK8iP0

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 15, 2026

Sequence

According to reports, both fighters touched gloves before the bell Fox News. As the round began, Castillo approached with his hands down and appeared to extend his left glove towards Jurek for a second time. Jurk did not respond and instead released a left hook, which ended the fight.

This sequence sparked a reaction online. Some viewers argued on X that Castillo was set up by a fraudulent glove strike. Others noted that the gloves had already been touched before the bell and that Castillo entered coverage with his hands down. Ponderous-motion replays were widely shared on Saturday, with commentators on both sides citing the same material to support different conclusions.

Jurk threw a punch, left without joy, and the referee started counting before the medical service entered the ring. Castillo, a 23-year-old Colombian, lay on his back for a long time before he was helped. For Bad left hookringside reports that he “recovered shortly thereafter”.

Records and context

Jurk improves his record to 14-0 after 12 knockouts. According to Fox News, Castillo is 13-3 (8 KOs), with all three losses coming in his last four fights. The fight was contracted for eight rounds.

The gala, billed as “Night of the Heavyweights” and promoted by Florian Winter, featured several heavyweight contenders alongside the welterweight headliner. Emanuel Odiase defeated Nick Webb in the second round to win the IBF European heavyweight title. In the main event, Donovan defeated Chukhadzhian by majority decision, securing his third meeting with IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker.

Comparisons

Several facilities, including: DajMeSportraised the question of whether the finish was one of the fastest in the history of professional boxing. The recognized record is generally considered to be Jimmy Thunder’s 1.5-second knockout of Crawford Grimsley in 1997. No official break time has been announced for the Jurk-Castillo fight.

Jurk did not publicly respond to the criticism. Castillo’s team has not released a statement.

Most Valuable Promotions held its first MMA event with Ronda Rousey, former boxers Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz, Mike Perry, Netflix support, and one obvious problem that the cameras couldn’t completely hide.

Despite the star-studded lineup and global streaming interest, much of the arena remained empty throughout the night as MVP officially transitioned into mixed martial arts.

The atmosphere seemed strangely flat compared to the scale of the names featured.

Ronda Rousey returns

Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey needed just 17 seconds to defeat Gina Carano in the main event, defeating the women’s MMA pioneer with the trademark armbar that once made her one of combat sports’ biggest stars.

After charging across the cage almost immediately, the Olympic medalist took down Carano, then wrapped it all up with the armbar that made her eminent.

However, while the action was speedy in the cage, it was demanding to ignore the empty seats around the arena during MVP’s heavily promoted debut event.

Netflix broadcast the event worldwide as part of its deal with MVP following the success of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and several major boxing events.

Perry defeats Diaz

In a joint feature film Mike Perry stopped Nate Diaz after two brutal rounds of welterweight trading.

Both men went at each other from the opening bell before Diaz’s corner finally stopped the penalty at the end of the second round.

After the break, Perry called for an MMA fight with Jake Paul, while agreeing to a future rematch with Diaz.

Elsewhere on the card, there was a former boxer Francis Ngannou he crushed Philipe Lins in the first round, then immediately renewed calls for a future showdown with Jon Jones.

Salahdine Parnasse impressed in his US debut, stopping Kenneth Cross in the first round, while “Massive Boy” Robelis Despaigne knocked out Junior Dos Santos in another explosive heavyweight finish.

Empty arena

For MVP, the event was still another attempt to prove that the company could transcend boxing.

But the empty seats were an uncomfortable reminder of reality. Outside of the UFC banner, even Netflix, Ngannou, Rousey, Diaz and Perry weren’t enough to fill the building.

MVP was already a huge boxing streaming success with Netflix, but the optics surrounding his first MMA release told a completely different story.

Dana White won’t be shaking in her boots.

About the author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.