After avenging his defeat to Chris Eubank Jr. during the second half of 2025, Conor Benn’s goal for 2026 is to win a welterweight world title and the 29-year-old may challenge for a belt upon his next outing. Now, his targeted opponent and date has been revealed.
Benn suffered a first career defeat when he lost out to Eubank Jr. back in April, but a dominant display seven months later saw ‘The Destroyer’ bounce back to level the scores against his fierce foe and emerge as one of British boxing’s biggest stars.
Despite being tied with Eubank, Benn has shown little interest in a trilogy bout with his cross-generational rival, instead opting to return to his natural weight division of 147lbs and attempt to get his hands on world honours.
He had been linked to a clash with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, but the Texan has since reportedly signed for a showdown with Ryan Garcia – another name that has been on the lips of Benn.
Speaking to Matchroom Boxing, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that Benn plans on facing the winner of that contest next, but explained that they will only wait on the sidelines if they are guaranteed a shot at the victor.
“We should only wait if we are guaranteed that fight and we won’t know for a while, because that fight hasn’t even taken place yet, if we are guaranteed that fight. So, we are doing the work behind the scenes.
“Ryan Garcia against Conor Benn – arguably the biggest fight in boxing. We would take 15,000 [fans] to Las Vegas for that fight; Conor would sell out a stadium with Ryan.
“Ryan is a huge name, but he has got to beat Barrios first and I believe that he will.”
In terms of the timescale for Benn’s next fight, Hearn then went on to detail that he hopes to stage Benn’s WBC title shot in May or June at the very latest, but added that his fighter will return sooner if he is unable to secure that opportunity.
“I’m not having him sitting around waiting. You know what he is like, he is back in the gym already, he is looking phenomenal.
“He is not going to want to wait until July/August to fight, we need to fight May/June at the absolute latest, if we are guaranteed that fight. If not, we will go earlier.”
Barrios-Garcia is set to take place on Saturday, February 21, with the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas being the touted location at present. Although, official details for the event are yet to be formally confirmed. Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, says an announcement is imminent.
