De La Hoya Trolls Conor Benn Following His Recent Failed VADA Tests – ‘His Punching Power Is Gone For Some Reason’
Oscar De La Hoya has mocked Conor Benn, questioning why he is in talks to face Gervonta Davis.
Davis and Benn began negotiations after Tank reacted to the Brit’s win over Peter Dobson. The performance was not what Benn was expecting, as he failed to stop the American, even though he got a unanimous decision win. Soon after, Davis stated he only needed three weeks to get ready to beat Benn. Eddie Hearn responded by making Tank an offer, who has not fought since his win over Ryan Garcia last year. But so far, it appears Davis not happy with the offer.
Hearn On Benn
“I’ve spoken to Gervonta personally and he’ll be receiving an offer from us today for that fight as well. I think it’s a huge fight, could happen in the UK but we’re looking,I think, in America for that. You know, you got two fiery characters, Gervonta is an outstanding fighter, super featherweight really,” Hearn said
“There’s been a reply from Gervonta. He’s never going to be happy. That can do huge pay-per-view numbers and gate numbers. He [Gervonta] should look to get involved in that show and that purse because it can deliver big numbers,” Hearn stated
Benn followed that up by confirming that the offer is in the region of $10-15 million. That will be short of what Davis made for the Garcia fight, but it is still a big payday, given that Benn is not the most well-known fighter.
While that may be the case, De La Hoya has questioned the reasoning to face Benn.
De La Hoya On Benn
“Isn’t Conor Benn [up at] 147lbs and fought at 154lbs? And Gervonta is 135/140lbs? Guys, there is weight-classes for a reason. Look, Gervonta Davis is the better fighter, he is the better fighter but Conor Benn is good too. When you have a bigger good guy against a littler good guy, the bigger guy is always going to win, it is in the history of the sport. “I don’t know how talented Conor Benn is, I haven’t paid too much attention to him, all I kept hearing is that his punching power is gone for some reason,” De La Hoya said
Those comments are understandable since Davis rejected the chance to fight Devin Haney. Leonard Ellerbe ruled the bout out, stating that Davis is a 135-pound fighter. Therefore, facing Haney at junior welterweight, who rehydrated to 165 pounds on the night of the Regis Prograis fight, meant the bout did not make sense. And yet, facing Benn, who has fought at 147 and at 154, suggests that Tank may be avoiding Haney.
As for Benn’s punching power, he has not looked the same since he failed two tests for Clomiphene. Benn failed to stop Rodolfo Orozco and Dobson in his last two fights since the failed tests. Benn did partly state that he was slowly getting back to his best and dealing with the legal issues, which may have impacted his performance mentally. But the longer he fails to get those knockouts, the more speculation that the failed tests show Benn’s power is no longer the same will increase.
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