With so many talented boxers, why does the boxing media pay so much attention to Conor Benn?

It's all about the name. Same thing in Australia in any sport. The media jerks off to it endlessly. Jasmine Parr or Jazzy Parr whatever the **** they call her got KTFO and has lost twice already in her short career. Because her dad was a good kickboxer over 20 years ago they wank off to her like she's a world champion. His son fought yesterday 18 years old I've never heard of him until 4 hours ago. Granted he looks good could make it very fast hands bred from fighters. MMA, But he fought a guy who was 1-2 from 3 fights. The commentators carried on like he's a world champion.

 

Yeah it's the name, it can't really be anything else as he genuinely isn't much to write home about. Financially he has done well in the sport,but from a competitive sense he has left a lot to be desired.

 

British media love to hype anyone with a 'boxing royalty' connection.. especially a gobby brash bell end like Connor.. i never rated him much. Just like Eubank Jr. Neither are a patch on their dads.

 

Nigel Benn overrated? Mmh kay.

 

Nigel wasn't overrated

He was a world level fighter that wasn't number 1 but would give absolutely anyone either a defeat or a hard time

Connor just made alot of noise which lends well todays social media format
Marketed extremely well (which he almost completely ruined single handedly by being a horrible runt)

It was only a matter of time before the ruse was exposed to the masses and that was last night

He'll see now how much Dana gives a crap about him

 

Because he has a big profile, his Dad’s name and markets himself very well. If you generate interest and people know who you are, they’ll tune in whether to see you win or see you lose but either way they are tuning in.

 

1. British
2. Legacy Fighter
3. Career manufactured because of 1 and 2

 

Obviously the name opens a lot of doors and his dad was a world class and often dangerous fighter. If he could be even half of what his dad was, it was a promotional dream, until he reached his ceiling. I was not entirely familiar with his early career but can see he seemed to skip domestic level and went straight to continental. He went life and death with that part timer french guy to win that title I remember watching that. Then Eddie could attract washed up veterans to bring over for ‘title’ fights. I’m not sure whether Hearn suspected he’d get found out domestically after that Peynaud war, so he skipped that level. He had an unremarkable amateur career too.

So he basically bypasses national level and goes into European level but only faces one young fighter who he almost gets cleaned out by. He didn’t really appear to face competition that were appropriate athletically for his age, if I remember right Vargas, Algieri, Van Heerden, Granados and Prograis all retired after facing him, that says everything. Eubank was also battle worn and weight drained, He fought like 90% well experienced but old fighters and became accustomed to that kind of opponent. Garcia was the polar opposite in every way to him development wise and ability wise. Garcia has been a phenomenal talent since he was a teenager, everybody knew he’d reach the very top of the sport because it was obvious and he backed it up and deserved those accolades. Benn is a gym rat and game and as others have said, he has played his cards well and found himself in positions to make millions but he is limited and doesn’t seem to have understood that until yesterday.

 

If his name was Conor Johnson nobody would know who he was.

 

He's louder then the other two you mentioned

 

Nigel Benn was loved by the British public because he was a Gladiator who operated at a high level, had some of the best fights of that early 90s period, and always went out on his shield. 10 million people watched him fight Eubank on primetime British TV.

McLellan was meant to be this unstoppable killer, the second coming of Tommy Hearns, but the dog-murdering, psychopathic piece of **** (who wired the jaws of a Labrador shut and got his pit bull to ravage it to death) had his career ended by Sir Nigel after being smashed to pieces by him, despite being knocked out of the ring in the first round, amazing comeback, his finest hour; he should've got knighted for that alone.

He wouldn't have beaten Jones Jr, Nunn, Toney or McCallum, but he defined British sport in the 90s, had some of the best domestic fights in British boxing history, and because of his presence in the media and the Eubank rivalry, Connor benefited from the fact that people automatically knew him because of the surname, but he is absolutely not fit to lace his boots. Without his dad, he'd struggle to operate at the British level, but that's the way the world works; nepotism often opens doors that aren't available to most people.

 

Apart from living off his Dad's name, I think he is very good at pretending to be a superstar, he's a bit of a poser in that respect. He talks a good game and comes across as very confident. You see him dripping in designer clothes and driving fancy cars, always name dropping elite fighters like Bud, Tank, Devin or Garcia. He always portrays himself as a superstar without having really fought at a high level. For those of us that don't really pay much attention to all the noise surrounding him, you can see he's a very basic fighter. He's actually a very good advertisement for Eddie Hearn, because he backed him for years and built him up before Zuffa came along and swooped him up.

 

I don't think he was particularly hyped by British fans - he's actually quite unpopular here. IMO he is a guy who's benefited from a boxing Royalty surname, plus social media hype in an age where the number of followers you have can get you further than actual ring craft.
It's not that I think he's terrible. He's obviously a hard worker and has a lot of heart. But I think the lack of a traditional boxing route hurt him. He's dotted around taking on overmatched or old opponents, and pointless Eubank jnr fights which did nothing to enhance his credentials. Then, when he went in against an elite operator, his limits were exposed. And he didn't have the experience to do any better.
I also partly blame the rise of misfits style boxing, though I do think he's at a higher level than that. You can either take serious fights and build a career, or you can be an instantly famous fighter who brings eyes and cash, but operates at a lower level. You can't have both.

 

Talking about Haney, the whole arena boo’ed when he was on the screen, that should tell you everything you need to know about why he doesn’t get any attention.