Conor Benn says he’s coming after Terence Crawford’s throne at 147 following his impressive, show-stealing victory over Rodolfo Orozo on the undercard of Richard Hitchins vs. Jose Zepeda last Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Benn went to war with Mexican brawler Orozco (32-4-3, 24KOs), trading hard shots with him all night in an action-packed ten round contest that saw Conor get his hand raised, winning by the scores 99-91, 99-91, and 96-94.
In Benn’s next fight, he’s expected to face middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. in December at 160, but after that, he could return to 147 to go after one of the titles held by undisputed champion Terence Crawford.
If Crawford stays around to defend his 147-lb belts against Benn (22-0,14 KOs), so much the better, but if he vacates, Conor will go after one of the four fragmented titles.
Benn’s main competitors at welterweight are these fighters:
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
Eimantas Stanionis
Alexis Rocha
Keith Thurman
Yordenis Ugas
Rashidi Ellis
“I’m happy to go back down to 147 and capture a World title
down there. There are big fights there for me,” said Conor Benn to the media last Saturday night after his win over Rodolfo Orozco.
“The world titles are over here. I feel welcome over here. I feel loved here. I feel like I have a lot of support here, and I’m overwhelmed by the love and support I’m shown here. If my next fight has got to be here at 147, then me and my trainer will come over here and capture the titles at 147.
“You’ve got some great fighters over here. The likes of Ennis, Spence, Crawford. You got all these fighters over here, top level fighters. When I say, ‘Can I come over here and fight them?’ I’ll fight them in their own back garden, no problem. I’ll be happy to take the belts back.
“All the belts are over here in America, so I might be making a return to America very soon. If not, the only exception I’ll
make is to go back up to 160. Otherwise, it’s back down to 147
“This is what I feel like what I’m born to do. People want to skip adversity people want to skip the letdowns. People want to skip the lows, but people don’t know that’s where characters are built. So, for me, it’s like, what can another man do to me?
“He borrowed Canelo’s chin for the night,” said Benn about Rodolfo Orozco. “He could actually punch. This was my first fight at 154. They can take the beatings more. If this was down at 147, no doubt it would have gone down, and it would have been over. He took the shots.
