Conor Benn may have garnered the kind of clarity needed to lure someone like Manny Pacquiao into the ring.
Benn, the embattled British welterweight, was the recipient of some favorable news recently when the World Boxing Council wrapped up its investigation of his two positive drug tests by deeming that a “highly elevated consumption of eggs” was a credible explanation.
The verdict will see Benn reinstated into the WBC’s welterweight rankings but that is the limit of its purview. Benn is still under a far more serious and legitimate investigation by the British Boxing Board of Control and United Kingdom Anti-Doping. Their findings could lead to a potential ban. Benn currently cannot box in the United Kingdom, as he relinquished his license with the Board last year.
While Benn has taken issue with the rationale laid out by the WBC, he has not been shy about using their verdict to go on a victory lap across his social media, lashing out at his critics. He has also not been shy about juggling various matchmaking possibilities for himself, including, most recently, a showdown with Pacquiao, the eight-division world champion and congressman from the Philippines.
A Pacquiao-Benn fight became the subject of conversation not long ago after Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, floated the idea to reporters.
Last month, Sean Gibbons, an advisor for Pacquiao, suggested that he has had preliminary talks with Hearn about the matchup. However, he also said he would refrain from partaking in concrete discussions with Benn’s people until there was some “closure” with Benn’s positive tests.
Gibbons apparently has taken the WBC verdict as a positive development.
On his Twitter account on Thursday, Gibbons posted a mock poster of a Pacquiao vs. Benn fight with the tagline, “back to business.” Gibbons then suggested in a tweet that he was awaiting a response from Hearn.
“Waiting on Eddie Hearn! Senator ready to Rumble,” Gibbons wrote.
Not long thereafter, Benn replied with his own enthusiastic response.
“Biggest fight of the year! Let’s go,” Benn wrote.
Benn, 26, reproduced the poster on his Instagram story, while adding the caption “Back 2 Business.”
Hearn recently stated that he hopes to get Benn into the ring by June. The Matchroom head also hinted that he would be willing to have Benn fight in a foreign country in the event that Benn does not get a favorable ruling from the Board. Hearn has said “it’s very likely” that Benn’s next fight will take place in America.
Robert Smith, the head of the Board, told The Guardian that he hopes other commissions, such as Las Vegas and New York, will not approve Benn to fight before legitimate evidence in favor of his innocence materializes.
Pacquiao, 44, came out of retirement last December to fight South Korean mixed martial artist DK Yoo in an exhibition bout. Pacquiao retired in 2021 on the heels of losing a decision to Yordenis Ugas.