British welterweight/super welterweight contender Conor Benn defeated American opponent Peter Dobson by unanimous decision (UD) after a competitive bout held over twelve rounds. The non-title bout was held at 154 lbs and headlined at The Cosmpolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, while the event itself was promoted by Matchroom and broadcasted by DAZN.
Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s) was supposed to win easily by knockout or stoppage given the lack of experience from opponent Peter Dobson (16-1, 9 KO’s), but Dobson proved tougher than expected as he lasted all twelve rounds and had moments where it almost seemed like he would turn the match around.
Benn was tough and fast throughout, there was a noticeable factor that he lacked as opposed to previous fights―power. Offensively, Conor Benn was clearly the better as opposed to Dobson; not only landing more punches but also managing to unleash a variety of different attacks to show himself to be a pervasive threat to Dobson throughout the match. However, despite seemingly stunning and/or buzzing Dobson, Benn proved unable to finish Dobson by raw strength.
Defensively-speaking, Conor Benn appeared the same as always―which can be attributed to his pressure style of fighting which tends to open up a fighter when they come forward, and several close moments during the match saw Dobson land a powerful right hand that made Benn either stumble or think twice.
Though clearly slower, Dobson had his own chances to come closer to a win with his counters and especially when he pressured Benn himself. While better on the backfoot than Benn, Dobson was mostly ineffective in that manner and proved to be more efficient when he took the lead in attacking.
To Benn’s credit, despite several moments in the match that looked like he was suffering from fatigue, he managed to maintain his offensive form for the most part―especially with his jab which proved to be solid throughout the match. While there were attempts by Conor Benn to destroy his opponent, based on his nickname ‘The Destroyer’, Dobson’s chin was impeccable during the match and Benn did not manage to knockdown the American as a result.
Overall, it was a good match with Dobson showing most of his ability when he was on the offensive but lack of conditioning likely prevented him from scoring an upset. Benn’s shortcomings were plain to see in his (lack of) defense, but offensively Benn only seemed to lack the power of his previous fights prior to the steroid case that has forced him to fight outside of his native country of the United Kingdom.
After twelve rounds, Conor Benn was deservedly announced the winner by unanimous decision with judges’ scores of 119-109 and 118-110 twice proving to be accurate in this match. While he did not have a bad performance, Benn’s lack of power will not go unnoticed given he has proven to be more powerful against better opponents than Dobson.
Benn still achieved a good and viable result despite some of his shortcomings, but there are concerns for Benn going forward as to his chances against the top-level fighters in his divisions if he faces them. At this current time, Benn cannot yet be considered an outright top contender that can match the likes of unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) or IBF champion Jaron Ennis (31-0, 28 KO’s), but at 27 years of age still has the potential to improve.
The rest of the Matchroom-promoted fight card helped lay witness to the continuing progression of American Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KO’s) middleweight contender who completely dominated Ghanaian opponent Armel Mbumba-Yassa (10-1, 7 KO’s) and eventually stopped him in the seventh round of their ten-round bout.
Williams would now benefit from a step-up in the level of opponents he is currently fighting as he is inching nearer to becoming a top middleweight contender but will need to fight more ranked opponents to qualify for an opportunity for a world title contest.
British heavyweight Johnny Fisher (11-0, 10 KO’s) is steadily looking like he might become a genuine contender following his first-round stoppage win over Ukrainian opponent Dmitry Bezus (10-2, 5 KO’s), but like Williams and Benn, Fischer would profit from testing himself against higher-rated opponents if he is looking to make a splash in the heavyweight division.
