Conor Benn’s controversial departure from Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing had opinion split. Now fan-favourite, Nigel Benn has shared his thoughts on his son’s move.
Hearn stood by and defended Benn after he failed two doping tests when originally scheduled to face Chris Eubank Jr back in 2022. The promoter eased ‘The Destroyer’ back into the pro game as investigations were ongoing before two fights with Chris Eubank Jr last year saw him become a household name.
However, back in February, Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing made the shock announcement that Benn had become their marquee signing, leaving Hearn, who had promoted him for the entirety of his professional career up until that point, without one of his biggest names in the UK. The British promoter has since taken issue with how it was handled, claiming Benn did not speak to him personally about the decision.
On the other hand, Benn has said that he was presented with a deal he could not turn down, and chose the benefit of his family over anything else during what can be a very short and unpredictable career. Many fighters have sided with him on this view.
Speaking with Boxing King Media, beloved two-division world champion and father of Conor, Nigel Benn, claimed that it is Hearn who has now ‘burnt the bridges’ and possibly scuppered any chance of a return to Matchroom, by calling his son ‘a dog’.
“He [Hearn] can call Conor a dog, who he really cares? He is a dog because your golden ticket has left you and [all] you have got [left is] Anthony Joshua? Good luck to you.
“We are not going to sit here worrying about you. We are going to watch Conor build up his bank balance and enjoy his life. We’re not going to be thinking about Eddie, if he wants to call Conor a dog, then so be it, but I’m not going to go there.
“I did like Eddie, and I still do like Eddie. I’m not going to go through that childish thing of ‘he is a dog, he left me and never phoned me’. F**k, it happens. Stop pretending that nothing like that has ever happened to you, Eddie.
“How many fighters have you dropped away on the sidelines? But I’m not going to go down that road. I don’t need to. Conor has just moved on, he [Hearn] is actually the one that has burnt the bridges. Will Conor come back now? Who knows.”
Benn’s one-fight Zuffa Boxing deal lands on the Tyson Fury-Arslanbek Makhmudov card this weekend at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, facing off with two-time super-lightweight world champion Regis Prograis in a 150lb catchweight contest.