In a surprising turn of events Conor Benn has just signed a deal with Zuffa Boxing, ending his longtime relationship with Matchroom. Benn, who’s career largely progressed under Matchroom, shared his excitement for his new prospects under this deal as Zuffa gets their most notable signing since Jai Opetaia.
“I’m filled with excitement and hunger for what’s ahead with Zuffa Boxing,” Benn said. “I want the legacy fights, the biggest nights, the biggest stages. I fear no man at any weight, and I’m ready to give the fans the fights they’ve been calling for. I’m in my prime, and together we have bold, ambitious plans.”
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn gave his immediate reaction to iFL TV and largely blamed himself for letting Benn slip away in a video interview, while noting that he was surprised by the news given how loyal he’s been to Benn over the years.
“I’ve known about his for a few days now, what was unfolding…I’m not going to sit here and hang Conor Benn out to dry. I’ve got to be honest with you, me, personally, pretty devastating…It’s not often that you get shocked and I blame myself. I blame myself because I just forgot it was boxing, you know? I just felt that the loyalty that we’ve shown would never ever put us in this position, and I just felt that I’ve never really needed to push Conor Benn to sign a new contract previously and I probably could’ve got him to sign a new contract previously.
“I blame myself, I made a mistake because I misjudged the character. And, again, I’m not going to hang him out to dry, he’s going to say ‘it was a big offer’ but when I received the email from his lawyer, I text him and said ‘I think we should have a call. I think for everything I’ve done for you, I deserve a call.’ And he said no. And I was like ‘man, f-ck, I can’t believe it.’
“I just felt that everything that we gave him, the loyalty that we gave him, the support we gave him would be enough to talk it through or just get close to a number, but it wasn’t really the interest. Very surprising, very painful. But just another moment in live that you live and learn from.
“Feels a little bit of a wasted few years because I gave a lot. I gave a lot, you know how hard I fought when no one believed him, no one backed him. I did. I believed him and I backed him and I never gave in. When he was down, out, loaned him hundreds of thousands of pounds — but, yeah. On we go.”
Conor Benn is recently coming off a big rematch win over Chris Eubank Jr last November which helped him rebound from a long period of controversy over a previously failed drug test.