Conor Benn will never fight at welterweight again, according to trainer Tony Sims. That decision came after Ryan Garcia dropped Benn and stopped him in the second round of their WBC title fight. Making 147 pounds was hard, Sims says, but the weight cut cannot explain away the punch that ended Benn’s challenge.
“There’s no excuses,” Sims told Sky Sports. “It was tough doing the weight of course it was. He was never going to lie about that. But he did have a good camp, the sparring the week before went really well, he was in tune, listen he just got caught with a shot. In world boxing, that’s what happens.”
Sims has it right when he says Benn got caught. Garcia timed him and landed clean before the fight had settled into a long test of stamina. Benn can leave welterweight behind, but he still has to address the defensive mistake that gave Garcia the opening. At 154 or 160 pounds, opponents will be bigger, and they will see the same footage.
Sims also said the money on offer made the difficult cut a risk worth taking. It was a world title opportunity against a major name, so the choice is understandable. The problem now is finding a fight that gives Benn something to chase beyond another large payday. Moving up in weight is a plan for the scale; it is not yet a plan for beating a top fighter.
A third meeting with Chris Eubank Jr. remains available in Sims’ view. Benn and Eubank split their two fights last year, and a deciding bout would draw attention in Britain. It would also let Benn return to a familiar rivalry without answering the question Garcia raised about his defense against elite speed and power. Sims believes the Garcia stoppage was early.
Benn had been dropped heavily, though, and the referee had to judge whether he could defend himself in that moment. Before arguing over the seconds he might have been given, Benn’s team has a more useful question to tackle: how does he keep the next puncher from landing that cleanly?
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