Conor Benn’s next fight after Chris Eubank Jr has already been decided | Boxing | Sport

Conor Benn has set his sights on challenging WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, irrespective of the outcome of his rematch against Chris Eubank Jr. The two British fighters will clash for a second time on Saturday evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. Their initial encounter took place in April, where Benn started promisingly but ultimately came up short, losing on points to his opponent.

The ‘Destroyer’ enters the rematch carrying more weight than his adversary and is determined to equalise the series. However, should he defeat Eubank Jr, Benn has ruled out a trilogy bout. Rather, he harbours his own ambitions and is planning a return to welterweight in pursuit of world championship glory.

He has specifically named current welterweight champion Barrios as his desired opponent. ‘El Azteca’ has been inactive since his controversial draw with boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in July.

Discussing his future aspirations, Benn told Boxing Social: “I want to fight for the WBC world title next.

“For me, that’s the priority. I know Mauricio Sulaiman will bless that fight, given history and my dad with the WBC world title. See if we can make that Barrios fight next, immediately, providing Barrios wants the fight, which we’ve had communication from him and his team and that’s the fight that will highly likely happen next for me at 147.”

In a separate interview with Sky Sports, he doubled down on his comments, adding: “I think Chris will retire after this fight. He’s fighting a welterweight. Just look at the landscape. He isn’t going to stay at 160lbs and fight a Janibek [Alimkhanuly] or a [Hamzah] Sheeraz, for half the money. It doesn’t make sense.

“He’s fighting a welterweight. I’ll drop back down to welterweight and carry on pursuing my goals and dreams at 147. This is my final fight at 160.

“My goal is to win a world title at welterweight. Right now my goal is to get back down to welterweight. I have the best team, nutritionist, a chef to get back down to 147. I’m going to the WBC convention in Thailand straight after the fight to get that sorted.

“There’s plenty of world title opportunities for me to get, whether it’s Barrios, [Ryan] Garcia, Rolly Romero, these are the fights that are being talked about after the fight, straightaway. Brian Norman, any of these guys. I’ll fight any of these guys.”

Benn’s most recent bout at welterweight took place three years ago against Chris van Heerden. The British fighter required just two rounds to secure a knockout victory over the South African.

Despite the lengthy absence from welterweight competition, Benn maintains he can comfortably return to the 147lbs division. But at present, his attention is firmly on Eubank Jr. “If I was scared or not a proper fighting man, would I have given the public this fight? Probably not, no. I’m the one jumping up two weights at the end of the day,” he said.

“He couldn’t lose the first one, you’re fighting a welterweight for God’s sake. You’ve got to think that was the second time going 12 rounds in my whole career. I’m about to tuck him in on Saturday.”

When is Conor Benn vs Chris Eubank Jr 2?

The 12-round middleweight rematch is scheduled for Saturday, November 15. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London will host the event once more.

Official timings have yet to be confirmed – but the undercard is expected to begin at around 5pm UK time. For the main event, ringwalks are likely to take place at approximately 9:50pm UK time.

The fight will be shown live and exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view.