Ahead of the action, where Benn will likely need a career-best performance to pull off the upset, Boxing News looked at his best three wins to date.
Conor Benn vs. Sebastian Formella, 22-1 (10 KOs) – London – 21/11/20
Prior to facing Formella, Benn had completed 10 rounds just once – a rematch against lowly French operator Cedrick Peynaud after a troublesome first encounter against the then 5-4-3 away corner fighter and was thus relatively unproven over the distance.
However, headlining a card for the first time following the cancellation of Whyte-Povetkin, Benn fought a 10-round affair against Germany’s former IBO welterweight champion, Formella, who had recently registered a well-aged win against current IBO champion, Tulani Mbenge.
Dominating from the get-go, Benn proved himself worthy of main-event status and earned himself a comfortable unanimous decision win on the scorecards, notably boosting his profile and making heads begin to turn.
Conor Benn vs. Chris Algieri, 25-3 (9 KOs) – Liverpool – 11/12/21
Facing his first former world champion, Chris Algieri was expected to give Benn problems when they collided at the Echo Arena in late 2021, with the American’s only losses coming against elite fighters in Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Errol Spence Jr. up until that point and boasting wins over the likes of Ruslan Provodnikov and Tommy Coyle.
Yet, a 25-year-old Benn boxed with all the comfort and confidence of a seasoned veteran, and he continued to march the American down and land explosive power shots to both the body and head, with Algieri clearly feeling each of Benn’s blows.
Backed up against the ropes in the fourth, Algieri succumbed to the power, as Benn landed a beautiful straight right-hand that knocked the visitor out on impact and sent him crashing head-first into the canvas – a statement win and highlight-reel knockout.
Conor Benn vs. Chris van Heerden, 28-2-1 (12 KOs) – Manchester – 16/4/22
Last but not least comes Benn’s final victory before a positive drug test hampered his career, as he continued his destructive path toward what seemed to be an inevitable world title shot with a beatdown of South Africa’s Chris van Heerden.
Prior to their meeting, van Heerden had been stopped just once in his career, as the highly-rated Errol Spence Jr. dispatched of ‘The Heat’ after eight rounds – but Benn needed just two.
In the main attraction of the AO Arena card, Benn was facing a southpaw for just the second time in his professional career, the other being a 4-0-1 Mike Cole in his seventh outing, but he had little issues with the lefty, scoring yet another picture-perfect straight right-hand to have van Heerden on wobbly legs before a thudding combination left him cowering in the corner and unable to continue.
Watch Eubank Jr vs Benn on Saturday 26th April live on DAZN, the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights per year.
