Emotional Conor Benn looks back on a stormy 2023: “How to sum it up? A year of ups and downs”
Ahead of his next fight on February 3rd, undefeated welterweight star Conor Benn (22-0, 14KO) revealed all to Kugan Cassius of IFL TV in an honest interview where he looked back on the difficult times he endured over the past year.
It all began in October 2022, when an adverse finding of increased levels of the banned substance Clomiphene were returned in a drugs test before his proposed fight with Chris Eubank Jr.
What followed from there was a succession of complexities and controversies, coupled with a public persecution of the athlete, who has unwaveringly defended his position as a clean athlete.
Benn took to social media on copious occasions to proclaim his innocence, but fight fans were very damning and unyielding in their condemnation of him. He was, and still is, considered a cheat in the opinions of many boxing fans, professional boxers, managers and promoters, despite not being found guilty by any investigations. Even the BBBofC have suspended Benn with no plans to reverse their decision any time soon.
The youngster spoke in a frank and mature manner about what he had to go through over the past tumultuous 12 months, fortunately able to look back on 2023 with a positive outlook.
“2023, how to sum it up? A year of ups and downs,” He begun. “Gratitude, blessings, tough times, and I learnt a lot about myself.
“Being disciplined and working through the storm, you know, I’m really proud of myself, to be honest. The resilience and strength I’ve built up over the years, to just trust God, and do my part; control what I can control.”
He then opened up on the investigations held against him, “I won the case in 2023, so really I should be completely clear of all this. I won the case and that was it – closed.
“I won the case, free to fight anywhere in the world.”
Benn was suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control in April last year and haven’t lifted the conditions since.
He attempted to offer an update on the situation, “There’s nothing new. I’m very disappointed in the stance that they’ve taken. They’re our own organisation, but I was proud to be cleared by the WBC of any doping, the relevant organisation of this case, so for me it’s challenging, because it’s your character being interrogated and when it’s your character it’s hard to just sit back and take a back seat. but I won the case; they tried to appeal, which did come as a surprise to me, but no doubt I’ll win the case again and I trust God, I trust my team; I let them handle what they can, they take all this pressure off me whether its good news or bad news, they just handle everything and allow me to just be the best fighter I can be.
In a touching speech, he attempted to provide inspiration to others, “Sometimes you get knocked back in life, but you really just have to keep it moving, just keep going and, in six months time, it won’t be as bad as it seems, but when you’re going through it may be the end of the world, it may be ‘how am I gonna make it through to tomorrow?’ But for everyone out there going through something… mine was public humiliation, mine was extremely public, which made it 10 times harder, but everyone is going through something, and I feel like if you can just weather the storm, it will give you enough resilience and strength so just keep going, stay disciplined, don’t fold under the pressure and rise to it, and that was what helped me get through.
“Each day, it gets better. Each day, you learn to deal with it better. And I’m at stage now where I’m through it.”
Benn’s next fight will be in the States, for a second consecutive time, which he remains pleased about, but there’s also an underlying sorrow that he isn’t able to compete in the UK for now.
“This is home for me, this is where my supporters are, they’ve done this journey with me, I feel like people are really invested in my journey; yeah, I’ve gone through some adversity, but tell me some legends, great sportsmen who haven’t.
“Everyone goes through something in life. This is only another chapter in the book, I’m only 27-years-old, which is mad, I feel these past two years have aged me 10 years, but it’s all part of the story and I’ve got the best team around me.
“When I get in the ring, I really do look at another man and go ‘what, he thinks he can beat me? After what been through.’ I’ve had to fight myself every day for the past two years, ‘what do you think you can do to me?’”
Born Rivals – Benn vs Eubank Jr.
The failed drug tests scuppered the mega-money showdown with bitter rival Chis Eubank Jr. who both tried to reignite for February this year, but failed to get anything over the line in time.
Conor indicated that the Eubank fight is not going to be in his immediate plans anytime soon and also revealed exactly why it didn’t materialise despite such extensive dealings over time.
“I’m not really too involved in the negotiations; I’m a fighter, my job is to fight. ‘Is that the man? Yes. No problem. Is that the amount? Yes. No problem. Run it up a little more, then we’re good.’ And that’s that. Then I just concentrate on the training and the fighting.
“I’m disappointed in the fight not happening, but it’s the fight I’m gonna give the fans – the big names, the big fights… There’s a lot of talk about me fighting these big names and why are they not happening? I’m ready to go for any of them!
“I feel like I’m the one that’s giving everything away here, I’m coming up two weight divisions. That fight takes me off-course originally where we was set out to go, so we’ll see what big names are there at 147lbs, and I think it’s a matter of time before I capture what’s mine and get that strap around my waist, and, for me, that’s what’s important.
“Who knows what the future holds but right now I’m on that hunt and I’m not going to be sidetracked by this or by that. Money comes and go and legacy stands.”
Benn vs Dobson
The Essex boxer next faces American Peter Dobson (16-0, 9KO) on February 3rd in Las Vegas.
The Briton shared his delight to be heading back to the ring early into the New Year, “It’s exciting for me to get back out, doing what I do, doing what I love, and, yeah man, just excited to get back out; Stateside especially, that’s where all the world titles are, so I’m on that hunt.”
33year-old Bronx boxer Dobson hasn’t fought in a professional boxing ring for 20 months due to a sideline venture in theTeam Combat League during 2023. Despite being unbeaten in 16 fights, it’s not the opponent everyone was expecting Benn to face next, but after extended talks with long-term rival Chris Eubank Jr. broke down, promoter Eddie Hearn had to work hard to find a replacement.
“Listen, it ain’t really down to me,” explained Benn. “You know, I say yes to any man whoever they present to me, and he was amongst a few names and that was the name that was picked, you know, that’s the name I’m gonna fight.
“As long as he’s got two arms and two legs, I don’t really care. Obviously, it’s not the ideal opponent everyone wanted, but he took the fight on six weeks notice, so credit to him when many turned it down.
“If it was down to the public, they would’ve thrown me in for a world title three fights in, but unfortunately there’s a lot of other factors that play into making the big fights; the mandatories… do they wanna fight me? It’s not always just about ‘yeah, let’s make the fight’ and the fight gets made, you know, other people may not want the fight, different promotions… there’s so many different factors, you know, and money has got to be right.
“I’ll fight anyone, I was willing to go up to 160lbs to take a big fight, I’ll sure as hell fight anyone at 147lbs. I’ll fight whoever, I want the biggest names, the biggest fight possible, I want a legacy-defining fight. Unfortunately, that’s not Feb 3rd, but it’s a step in the right direction to securing the world honours.”