Conor Benn

Benn made his professional debut in April 2016 aged 19 at The O2 Arena in London defeating Bulgarian Ivailo Boyanov by technical knockout in the first round.[3] He followed this with a points victory over Luke 'The Nuke' Keleher at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow in May,[4] and a knockout of Lukas Radic in June[5] On 10 September 2016, Benn was due to fight Silvije Kebet on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook. After Silvije Kebet pulled out Benn defeated late replacement Joe Ducker by technical knockout in the second round to take his unbeaten record to 4–0.[6] On 24 September, Benn fought his first ever six round fight and was taken the distance by Ross Jameson. Benn won a clear points decision. This also marked his first time fighting at the Manchester Arena, a venue his father fought at many times at world championship level.[7] Benn was next due to fight at Wembley Arena in London on 26 November but pulled out four days earlier due to illness.[8] On 1 December, it was announced that Benn would be part of the Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina heavyweight title undercard at the Manchester Arena on 10 December. His opponent was announced as Steven Backhouse.[9][10] Benn scored two knockdowns in round 1 and won the fight via knockout. The first knockdown came just after the opening bell after a left hook. Blackhouse never recovered and the fight was stopped just over a minute into the round.[11]

After a lay off, it was announced that Benn would return to the O2 Arena on 1 July 2017.[12] Benn stopped Mike Cole after knocking him down following a left hook in round 3, recording his fifth stoppage victory.[13] It was announced that Benn would appear on an edition of NXTGEN on Sky Sports on 1 September 2017 alongside Olympians Joshua Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie and Joe Cordina.[14] Fighting at the York Hall for the first time in his career, Benn stopped previously unbeaten Kane Baker in round 2. It was said that Benn would next fight on Anthony Joshua's next world title defence on 28 October at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.[15] It was announced that Benn would return to the Manchester Arena on the undercard of Anthony Crolla vs. Ricky Burns on 7 October 2017.[16] Benn remained undefeated knocking out Nathan Clarke in the first round. The fight lasted 2 minutes and 16 seconds.[17] In the post fight, Benn spoke about how his improvement in the gym has helped him fight better in the ring. Promoter Eddie Hearn stated that Benn's next fight would be in the United States.[18] Benn made his American debut on 11 November fighting Mexican boxer Brandon Sanudo at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Benn scored his fifth consecutive knockout win, dropping Sanudo in round 2 with a left hook to the body. The fight was stopped by the referee after just 1 minute of round 2.[19] Benn next fought at the York Hall in London on 13 December 2017 against French boxer Cedrick Peynaud. Benn was dropped twice in the opening round, which was also the first time he was knocked down as a professional. He beat the count both times and managed to drop Peynaud down in round 5 and 6. The fight went to the referee's scorecard, who had the fight 57–54 in favour of Benn, maintaining his unbeaten run.[20]

In January 2018, the British Boxing Board of Control set out some purse bids for their titles. One of the fights they ordered put Benn against Isaac MacLeod in an English welterweight title eliminator. They stated the fight must take place by June 2018.[21] On 29 January 2018 it was announced that Benn would next fight on Amir Khan's UK return on 21 April at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, marking Benn's first fight in Merseyside.[22][23] On 5 February, Benn signed a two-year extension with Matchroom.[24] On the Khan-Lo Greco undercard, Benn defeated Chris Truman via round 4 TKO in the scheduled 6 round bout. Hearn later stated that Benn wanted to rematch Peynaud, likely for July 2018.[25] On 13 June, it was announced that Benn would fight Cedric Peynaud in a rematch on the Whyte vs. Parker heavyweight showdown on 28 July at The O2 Arena in London.[26][27] The WBA announced the fight would be contested for their vacant Continental (Europe) welterweight title.[28] Benn dropped Peynaud three times, boxing his way to a 10-round unanimous decision victory. The three judges' scored the bout 98–90, 98–91, 97–90 in his favour. Peynaud started the fight swinging aiming to land big shots, however Benn used his feet to move around the ring and sensibly box. Peynaud managed to land clean shots on Benn, without doing too much damage. The first knockdown came in round 2, although it was clear that Peynaud lost balance and slipped to the canvas. In round 7, Peynaud took a knee following a hard body shot. A right hook dropped Peynaud down a third time in round 9. Benn was able to go the 10 round distance for the first time in his professional career.[29][30]

On 21 November 2020, Benn defeated Sebastian Formella (a former IBO welterweight world champion) by unanimous decision. at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London. Benn was able to dominate the veteran over the course of 10 rounds. The three judges scored the bout 99-92, 99-91, and 100-91 for Benn. It was the second time in his professional career that Benn’s fight went the ten round distance.[31]

In 2019, Benn portrayed his father Nigel in the fourth instalment of the Rise of the Footsoldier film series.[32]

Boxing record for Conor Benn from BoxRec