Conor Benn has considered his welterweight future amid a gruelling training camp for his WBC world title challenge against Ryan Garcia.
The pair will square off for Garcia’s strap on September 12, headlining a Zuffa Boxing and Golden Boy co-promoted show at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
This represents a maiden title defence for ‘King Ry’, who claimed his belt by dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory in February.
Prior to that, the American lost his 147lb debut against Rolando Romero, suffering a unanimous decision defeat after returning from a year-long doping ban.
Since then, though, Garcia seems to have acclimatised to his new division, while Benn has not fought at welterweight since his second-round finish over Chris van Heerden in 2022.
Following that performance, ‘The Destroyer’ tested positive for clomifene, a banned substance, and was removed from his scheduled middleweight encounter with Chris Eubank Jr.
But the pair ended up revisiting their rivalry last year, with Benn losing their first encounter before unanimously outpointing Eubank in November.
Given those two fights at 160lbs and one following bout against Regis Prograis at a catchweight of 150lbs, many – including former promoter Eddie Hearn – have questioned Benn’s ability to cut back down to welterweight.
Speaking with Ring Magazine, Benn admits it has been a struggle to shave off the extra poundage as he gears up for his final roll of the dice at 147lbs.
“It’s hard; it’s brutal. This is my last fight at 147[lbs]. When I win the world title, I’ll move on. I haven’t made 147 for four years, so it’s challenging.
“I went up to 183lbs [after weighing in below 160lbs] for the Eubank fights.”
Benn went on to say that he could fight as high as 168lbs in the future, but must first remain focused on keeping below 147lbs ahead of his clash with Garcia.
