Conor Benn ranked #2 WBA & WBC at 147: Why the High Ranking?

Eddie Hearn promoted fighter Conor Benn is now ranked #2 WBA and #2 WBC welterweight and is ready to fight for a world title against one of the champions.

Hearn will be happy to see Benn rated so highly by those two sanctioning bodies without him having to face one of the talented contenders to be given that spot. Benn is 28 years old, and has never beaten a true top-15 contender during his career. His best wins were against older fighters brought into the shop Chris Algieri and Chris Van Heerden.

It seems almost unfair that Benn returned to the top of the 147lb rankings with the WBA and WBC after beating several lower level fighters.

Conor Benn’s recent wins

– Peter Dobson
– Rodolfo Orozco
– Chris Van Heerde

It is unfair to the fans if Benn is thrown with one of the champions at 147 and is exposed as a hype job, which is how many of them see it.

Beating those fighters does not prepare Conor Benn to compete against any of the welterweight champions because they are not world class guys. Unless Hearn is only focusing on a big cash-out fight for Benn, he needs to build him up well by pairing him with fighters like Alexis Rocha, Shakhram Giyasov, Derriek Cuevas and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Hearn hasn’t said his big plan for Benn to fight at welterweight, but it’s reasonable to assume he’ll keep him away from IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. It wouldn’t be a competitive fight. Benn would be completely outmatched. Eddie would like to make a fight between Benn and middleweight Chris Eubank Jr as it would be a big money fight in the UK.

When Hearn chooses to meet Benn against one of the champions at 147, the obvious choice will be WBC belt Mario Barrios. US fans would be more interested in seeing a fight between Benn and Barrios than they would be if Conor challenged WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis.

UK fans are easy to please, because they don’t care which of the two champions Conor Benn challenged. They just want to see Benn fight for a world title, even if he hasn’t beaten anyone to deserve the opportunity.