The last time Peter Dobson boxed in Las Vegas, he was given what he considered “a bum-ass hotel room” and he fought in the walk-out bout after Manny Pacquiao edged Keith Thurman in the main event at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Dobson stopped an undefeated fighter that night, but virtually no one noticed his fifth-round technical knockout of Mexico’s Emmanuel Medina, who entered the ring with a 16-0 record. An extremely confident Dobson (16-0, 9 KOs) promised to make the entire boxing world take notice Saturday, when the Bronx, New York native will square off against England’s Conor Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) in what is perceived as a tune-up fight for the banished British welterweight contender at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) will fight for the second time in four months in the United States because the British Boxing Board of Control and its performance-enhancing drug-test agency, UK Anti-Doping, haven’t scheduled its appeal hearing regarding Benn’s licensure in the UK (https://www.boxingscene.com/distracted-conor-benn-feels-like-quarter-man-with-bbboc-ukad-appeal-process-lingering–181140).
The 33-year-old Dobson intends to render Benn’s hearing irrelevant by beating a fighter favored by a 14-1 margin according to DraftKings sportsbook. Dobson dismissed Benn as a “one-trick pony” and “an athletic bum,” but Benn is undoubtedly a step up in opposition for the Hackensack, New Jersey resident.
“I look at it like an opportunity I been waiting for and an opportunity for the world to see my talent and my skill,” Dobson told BoxingScene.com. “This is, for me, where I take off. They kept me in the shadows, they kept me off TV for years, beating undefeated guys, guys with padded records. And, you know, I’m still undefeated. That shows a lot, but now the world gets to see it.”
Dobson doesn’t have a promoter and hasn’t participated in an official fight since June 2022, when he defeated Argentina’s Rodrigo Coria (13-5, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder at Center Stage in Atlanta. The former New York Golden Gloves champion nonetheless considers himself one of boxing’s best-kept secrets.
“I can’t say he’s overrated,” Dobson said. “I feel like I’m just on another level. I’m up there with Terence Crawford, Errol Spence, all of the top fighters. I don’t know if he’s overrated or not, but I’m underrated.”
Benn is Dobson’s first undefeated opponent since he abruptly dropped and stopped Medina with a right uppercut in July 2019. Beating Benn obviously would transform Dobson’s career and life, but recording this type of victory is what he envisioned once he began taking boxing more seriously following an unforeseen defeat in the 2014 New York Golden Gloves Tournament.
“It’s an incredible story, but I feel like it’s been told a million times,” said Dobson, who also works as a personal trainer. “Just an underdog, nobody believed in him, but he believed in his self and now he made it to the highest level in boxing. You feel me? It’s like a movie.”
DAZN will stream Benn-Dobson worldwide as the main event of a four-fight show scheduled to begin at noon PT (8 p.m. GMT; 3 p.m. ET). The 10-round, 150-pound bout between Benn and Dobson should start at approximately 2:30 p.m. PT, so that British boxing fans can watch it at a tolerable time in the UK (10:30 p.m. GMT).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.