Conor Benn is weighing his next move in boxing after suffering a heavy stoppage defeat to Ryan Garcia in their WBC welterweight world title fight in Las Vegas.
Benn was attempting to follow in the footsteps of his father, the former world champion Nigel Benn, when he challenged Garcia for the WBC belt at the T-Mobile Arena. Garcia, a top-class fighter, dropped and stopped Benn inside two rounds to retain his title.
Writing on social media afterwards, Benn addressed questions about his future. "Everybody keeps asking: 'What's next for Conor Benn?'" he wrote. "The truth is, I don't have the answer."
"If you'd asked the 19-year-old version of me whether I thought I'd be standing here 10 years later, having lived through everything I have, I'd have told you that you were crazy," he continued. "I train hard. I sacrifice. I've given this game 110 per cent every time I've stepped through those ropes, I've wanted to give people unforgettable nights and entertain."
"That's what this has always been about for me," he added. "People spend their hard-earned money to come and watch guys like us fight. I've never taken that for granted. I've always wanted to be a servant of the public and give everything I have when it matters."
Time with his children
Benn indicated he intends to rest and recover before deciding how to return to the ring, pointing to the toll his career has taken on his family.
"Giving everything comes at a cost," he wrote. "And the people who have paid that cost more than anyone are my family and my kids. They've sacrificed time with their dad so I could chase this dream. They've had to share me with this sport their entire lives."
"So when people ask me what's next for Conor Benn, right now the answer is simple," he said. "Time with my kids."
He also thanked fans who supported him in Las Vegas. "Fight fans, thank you. Those who travelled to Vegas, those who stayed up until the early hours. I will never take your support for granted, especially on those nights things don't go to plan."
What could be next for Benn
Benn is only 29 years old, and while he may take time away from the sport, he is expected to return to boxing eventually.
The fight with Garcia was Benn's first at welterweight in more than four years. He had spent the intervening period fighting twice at middleweight against Chris Eubank Jr, so the return to 147lbs for the Garcia bout marked a severe cut back down.
All the indications are that Benn will now look to move back up in weight. He could bypass the 154lb division entirely and return straight to middleweight, where there are titleholders with relatively low profiles who would likely welcome a fight with him if he were ranked, including Aaron McKenna, the IBF champion, and Denzel Bentley, who holds the WBO title.
A move even higher, to super-middleweight, is also possible, even though Benn would be undersized there. A trilogy fight with Eubank Jr at 168lbs has been floated as a option, since it would spare Eubank the punishing weight cut and rehydration clause he faced at middleweight, and the pair currently stand 1-1 in their series.
Benn's Las Vegas bid for a world title ended in a crushing defeat to Garcia, but he is expected to have options available to him whenever he chooses to return to the ring.
