ORLANDO – Eddie Hearn is already at work to get Conor Benn back in the ring to make up for lost time.
A career-long17-month hiatus ended for the unbeaten welterweight contender, who outpointed Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco over ten rounds on September 23 in Orlando, Florida. The bout was the first for England’s Benn since last April and also since the ongoing drug testing scandal which canceled his planned showdown with fellow second-generation boxer Chris Eubank Jr.
That bout in particular is already being targeted as Benn’s next fight, with the outside shot of getting it done for December 23. If not, the team does not seem too concerned about finding a relevant fight in his near future.
“He’s never going to be short of a big fight,” Hearn told BoxingScene.com. “We just have to make one for him hopefully in December.”
Benn (22-0, 14KOs) was a career-heaviest but well-proportioned 153.6 pounds for his win over Orozco (32-4-2, 23KOs). The weight gain was a bit intentional in case his team is able to resurrect a fight versus Eubank (33-3, 24KOs), which would take place at or near the 160-pound middleweight limit.
The two were due to meet at a maximum catchweight of 157 pounds last October. Those plans were canceled just two days prior to fight night when the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) refused to sanction the fight due to a positive drug test produced by Benn for the banned substance Clomiphene.
Benn was provisionally suspended by United Kingdom Anti-Doping before the ban was lifted earlier this summer by the National Anti-Doping Panel. Both UKAD and the BBBofC have appealed the decision, which continues to leave Benn without a UK boxing license.
He is licensed to fight elsewhere around the world and is prepared to fight once again in the U.S. or even in the Middle East if necessary.
“He wants the biggest fight available.,” said Hearn. “It could be Eubank. It could be Kell Brook. Over here (in the U.S.), we’d love to see him fight Ugas or Barrios, anybody else at 147 as well.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox