Following a victory in his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr. on Saturday night, Conor Benn announced he will return to the welterweight division with the goal of challenging for world honours.
Benn made easy work of a below par Eubank to claim a one-sided unanimous decision victory and even the scores in their generational rivalry. Talk of a trilogy showdown has fizzled already given the nature of the win.
Instead, Benn declared he would move back down three weight-classes and get his hands on a 147lb world title, targeting a clash with reigning WBC welterweight champion, Mario Barrios.
This week, ‘The Destroyer’ also went back-and-forth with California’s Ryan Garcia, stating that he would happily face the 27-year-old next, as the headline attraction of an event at a UK stadium.
Benn appears to have missed out on both of those potential fights, after Garcia posted a clip where he signed a contract to challenge for Barrios’ WBC title himself on his Instagram.
“Signed. I am going to be fighting for the real WBC championship belt against Mario Barrios, [on] February 21st. Get ready, because I am coming. Let’s go!”
Garcia had been expelled by the WBC following racist social media posts last year, but president of the sanctioning body, Mauricio Sulaiman, lifted the ban at the beginning of the month – allowing Garcia to fight for the WBC world title even despite fighting just once in the division and losing. An official announcement on the event is pending.
As for Benn, he may now target one of the division’s other champions in Lewis Crocker, Rolando Romero or Brian Norman Jr, who defends against Devin Haney this weekend.
