LIKE some glutton for punishment who can’t get enough of a bad thing, Conor Benn wants to follow up his frustrating decision win over Adrian Granados last weekend with a fight against one of the most naturally frustrating welterweights in recent memory: Adrien Broner.
It is a bizarre choice of opponent, stylistically, but makes a lot of sense in the context of Benn needing a big-name opponent to make some noise in America. Broner may be frustrating, and he may be a wasted talent, but he is still, at 32, a big name in a sport nowadays boasting few of them.
“I’ll have Broner next,” Benn, 19-0 (12), told talkSPORT, responding to Eddie Hearn’s claim that the American is very much on their radar. “I’ll have Broner here at the O2 (Arena) or I’ll have him at a stadium out in America. It doesn’t bother me. Broner is definitely an opponent I’d love to fight and share the ring with this year.
“Four-time world division champion, I won’t shy away from anybody and if he wants it, I’ll give it to him. That’s not a problem.”
Given the size of Broner’s ego, not to mention the size of his fight purses to date, it would take an almighty offer to get him to travel overseas and box Benn in a British arena. But, if that can’t be sorted, it would be just as beneficial for Benn to take his exciting style stateside, where Broner, 34-4-1 (24), is very much a polarising character and where, I’m sure, Benn would have plenty of support.
