Benn addressed the issue directly when discussing his split from Matchroom, dismissing the suggestion that he had received financial backing during the most difficult stretch of his career. “He didn’t lend me a cent,” Benn said. “And guess who it all fell on? Me.”
Expanding on that period, Benn pointed to the scale of the financial burden he carried while inactive. “Legal bills fighting my case, I think it’s 1.1 million,” Conor said to The Overlap. “I paid every single penny of that on my own. Every single penny.”
The costs came during a prolonged spell out of the ring, when Benn was unable to fight while continuing to contest his case. “How do you prepare to not fight for two and a half years and then pay the legal bills?” he said. “I’ve got a kid, got a son, and then I had a daughter on the way.”
Despite correcting the financial narrative, Benn made clear there is no hostility toward Hearn or Matchroom. “Matchroom for me have been a heavy part of my career. They are the foundation of who Conor Benn is today,” he said.
The decision to leave, he explained, was based on long-term priorities rather than a dispute. “I can hand on heart say it’s the best decision I made for my family,” Benn said, describing the move as necessary for his future outside the sport as well as inside it.
He also stressed the personal weight behind that thinking. “All that matters are your kids and giving your kids the best life they could possibly have,” Benn said.
His clarification on the financial side has drawn the most attention, with Benn insisting he carried the burden alone during his suspension while still acknowledging the role Matchroom played in building his career.
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