Matchroom chairman, Eddie Hearn, has confirmed that the potential fight between Gervonta Davis and Conor Benn is off for the time being. Earlier this month, Davis had initiated the negotiations himself after Benn completed a tough match against Peter Dobson on February 5th by asking for an offer to be made Hearn, who is Benn’s promoter, but Davis has apparently not yet accepted the offer.
Though Eddie Hearn refused to fully divulge the details of the offer sent to Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s), he did confirm that Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s) was looking at other opponents amidst Davis’ refusal to accept the offer sent his way:
“No, not yet,” Hearn stated to Pro Boxing Fans when asked on whether Davis had accepted the offer to fight Benn.
“We’ll see where that goes. There’s a lot of movement on Conor Benn; there’s probably five fights at the moment for Conor Benn―and I’m not going into them. They are approaching [a] contractual stage, but I want to see him [Benn] fight in the UK next, and it is going to be a massive fight.“
American former multi-division champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (37-3, 21 KO’s) has now emerged as one of the potential opponents that Conor Benn might face in the near future, according to Hearn.
“Danny Garcia has reached out to our team to talk to me directly and I’ll be talking to him this week,” Hearn revealed.
“I love the fight with Danny Garcia, USA or UK, but like I said―four/five names and he’s definitely in the mix.“
Danny Garcia had showed enthusiasm in fighting Benn in an interview he held earlier this month, and seemed to prefer fighting Conor Benn at super welterweight/junior middleweight where Benn has been fought at during his past two fights.
“I would love to fight him [Conor Benn] at 154 [lbs],” Garcia told YSM Media.
“I think that makes great sense. He wants to fight a big name, you know, Garcia vs. Benn. Ain’t no bigger fighter than Danny Garcia, so I would love that fight.“
Though Garcia has not fought since defeating Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-3-1, 19 KO’s) on July 30th in 2022, he is still one of the most affluent fighters due to his achievements in the sport. As a former two-division and unified champion, Garcia would be the most prevalent name on Conor Benn’s resume and likely his toughest opponent; especially if the fight were to take place at 154 pounds where Benn has yet to stop or knock out any of his opponents.
Aside from Garcia, Hearn hinted at other opponents but was not willing to divulge any names. In any case, it appears Gervonta Davis is not included amongst the list of fighters that Benn could face.
In retrospect, it is difficult to ascertain whether Davis had been serious about his offer in the first place. Davis as not fought since defeating Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) on April 20th last year, and despite having been branded the “face of (American) boxing”, Davis has not yet lived up to those expectations even after being promoted to WBA world champion last month.
Though a legal case against him prevented Gervonta Davis from fighting sooner, he now appears to be free to fight anybody he chooses but will need to carefully manage his career to maintain his popularity and the interest in his fights. A fight with Benn at 147 lbs would have been an opportunity for Davis to expand his brand, as the only viable opponents he could face at this point of his career would be other champions; though Davis has not yet expressed any interest in fighting WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KO’s) or any other champion in the same division or above.
