Conor Benn has hit out at Gervonta Davis for rejecting an offer from Matchroom for Baltimore’s WBA lightweight title holder to move up in weight and fight him.
Promoter Eddie Hearn was in Edinburgh today to kick-off proceedings for the April 27 bout between rivals Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall, revealing to Pro Boxing Fans that Davis had refused the offer to fight Benn.
Davis initially reached out to Hearn about fighting Benn following the Englishman’s unanimous points win over Peter Dobson on February 3 in Las Vegas.
“There’s a lot of movement for Conor Benn,” Hearn added. “There are probably five fights at the moment for Conor Benn. They are approaching the contractual stage.”
Hearn refused to name the interested parties who might feature in Benn’s summer return, which Hearn is hoping can be held in the UK as Benn and the British Boxing Board of Control are due to discuss Benn’s ongoing anti-doping issues following two failed VADA accredited drug tests before his canceled 2022 encounter with rival Chris Eubank Jr.
Benn was cleared to resume his career by the National Anti-Doping panel in July 2023. However, the BBBofC and UKAD almost immediately appealed the decision.
As a consequence, Benn traveled to the United States to continue his career, making his ring return in September in Florida against Rodolfo Orozco, ending a 17-month absence, and he boxed Dobson in Las Vegas last month.
Hearn, however, did confirm that he would reach out to former two-weight world champion Danny Garcia, who threw his name into the hat to face Benn this past weekend.
“I want to see him [Benn] fight in the UK next, and it’s going to be a massive fight,” Hearn said.
“Danny Garcia reached out to our team to talk to me directly, and I’ll be talking to him this week. I love the fight with Danny Garcia, the USA or the UK. Like I said, four or five names, and he’s definitely in the mix.”.
Following Hearn’s comments that Davis refused to entertain him in that proposed contest, Benn took aim at the Baltimore lightweight with a one-line response.
“Don’t ever @ me ever again. @gervontaa,” Benn wrote on X.
Hearn told BoxingScene today: “It will be a couple of weeks until we get the verdict [on Benn’s future], and I’m very confident it can get resolved and we can see him in a massive fight in the UK.”