Although second-hand embarrassment is commonplace, the concept of second-hand imposter syndrome was not something with which I was all that familiar until watching Conor Benn stand alongside Gennadiy Golovkin, Oleksandr Usyk, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev inside a boxing ring at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. But seeing him there, I knew it existed. I felt it. I also felt for him, the imposter. How could you not?
After all, it couldn’t have been easy for Benn, 24-1 (14 KOs), to stand next to four great world champions and pose with a straight, mean face. Nor was it Benn’s fault that he had been put in such an awkward position before the eyes of the world, backlash inevitable. Given the choice, perhaps he would have had enough humility to have turned down the invitation and clapped Golovkin, Usyk, Bivol and Beterbiev from the sidelines. Perhaps, had he understood that boxing is more about achievements than notoriety, he would have remained at ringside, not far from Chris Eubank Jnr.
As it was, Benn was introduced in the same breath as those celebrated champions, then later took his seat in the second row to watch Shakur Stevenson outbox Teofimo Lopez for 12 rounds. Also in that same row was Eubank Jnr, his old rival, to his right, with the pair separated only by the considerable presence of Beterbiev, the former world light-heavyweight champion from Russia. Sitting in front of them, meanwhile, in Row A, was Turki Alalshikh (of course), promoter Eddie Hearn, Golovkin, and Spike Lee, the world-famous film director.
It was, all together, quite a selection; a verifiable smorgasbord of greats, as well as people deemed relevant by either association or family name. It was hard, too, not to focus on this array of characters as the fight between Stevenson and Lopez unfolded. That’s not to say the fight was dull. Far from it. But such was the extent of Stevenson’s dominance, and indeed his brilliance, you had time to allow yourself to become distracted and could be sure that nothing would have changed by the time you returned to the action. In certain rounds, the eye would naturally wander towards Benn, with his peroxide blonde hair making him a sight hard to miss in Row B. He seemed captivated and engaged by it all, although his wife, Victoria, appeared somewhat less enamoured with what was taking place in the ring. At times, her eyes seemed to be closed, or were on the verge of closing, and one couldn’t help but wonder if the Benns’ brief time in New York would have been better spent doing something else. Maybe they could have taken in a Broadway show that Saturday night, for example. Or maybe they could have biked around Central Park, or seen “The Persistence of Memory” (Salvador Dali, 1931) at the Museum of Modern Art.
Instead, because Benn has somehow talked his way into another big fight – this time against Shakur Stevenson – there was supposedly a need for him to be there at MSG. That’s presumably why he was given such good seats and why beforehand he was introduced to the crowd as the odd one out in a lineup of revered world champions.
Even Benn winning an award for “Fight of the Year” at The Ring awards on Friday (for his first fight with Chris Eubank Jnr) could not justify the brightness of the spotlight granted to Benn on fight night. Remember, it was only a couple of years ago that he was fighting to clear his name following two positive tests for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene. Yet now, suddenly, here he was the Main Character on a weekend designed to showcase the talents of boxers competing at a much higher level than Benn.
Clearly, whether it’s the bleached blonde hair, or his famous surname, there is something rather alluring about Conor Benn in 2026. Who knows, perhaps the disparity between his profile and what he has actually achieved in the ring makes him an appealing proposition for fighters hoping to secure fights they consider low-risk, high-reward. In the case of Benn, Stevenson and others of a similar standard and mindset have no doubt smelled an opponent whose name and brand eclipses his true ability. Therefore, Benn, the nepo baby with a bone to pick, becomes a welcome addition wherever the circus travels.
“There’s a fighter in here [Madison Square Garden] right now and he motivated me too,” said Stevenson after producing the finest performance of his career to outpoint Lopez on Saturday night. We then all waited for the name, conscious of the fact that a who’s who of boxing luminaries were dotted around ringside. “Where’s Conor Benn?” Stevenson said next, to the surprise of many. “Conor Benn, we’re going to get it banging, boy. I want that same rehydration clause that you put on Eubank Jnr and I want to fight.”
Needing no second invitation, it was at that point Benn vacated his ringside seat and suddenly appeared in the ring, where he confronted Stevenson. “You’re too small for me, bro,” Benn said to get warm. “You’re tiny. You can’t punch. You can’t keep me off you. I’ll rough you up, I’ll put you down.”
“Sign the contract,” said Stevenson.
“Oi, Turki, let’s get this fight done. We can do it next.”
Ordinarily in a situation like that, the victor – that is, Stevenson – would be encouraged to reach even greater heights and test the very limits of their ambition. Only in this instance Stevenson almost did himself a disservice by punching down and singling Benn out in the crowd. The “motivation” of which the American spoke had to be financial, and is understandable, yet still, because of what we had just witnessed Stevenson do to Lopez, there was something rather anticlimactic about Stevenson vs. Benn being pushed as the next step to greatness. Surely, given his propensity to dart around the weights, there are more serious challenges for Stevenson above and below the junior-welterweight division. Surely he can do better than Conor Benn.
Even from Benn’s point of view, the appearance in New York seemed like a misstep. He himself won’t ever see it that way, of course, but most travel agents would agree if aware of the cheaper alternative. After all, back at home, where Benn for now belongs and is allowed to fight again, we had an IBF super-welterweight title fight between Bakhram Murtazaliev and Josh Kelly. That fight took place in Newcastle, England, and was a fight won, quite impressively, by Kelly over 12 rounds. Had Conor Benn been there, he would have seen for himself just how impressive his countryman looked in winning a fight many expected him to lose. Better yet, he could have drummed up interest in a fight more suited to his range of skills and qualifications.
Besides, it’s not as if Kelly vs. Benn is something new. In fact, long before Kelly lost his first professional fight (against David Avanesyan in 2021), these two were touted to be on a collision course, with Benn even speaking about Kelly as a possible foe as far back as 2019. Granted, a lot has happened since then, but the fight – Kelly vs. Benn – is no less compelling. If anything, it has now grown in size and prestige on account of both Benn’s notoriety – alas – and, more importantly, Kelly winning an IBF title on Saturday.
Give or take a few pounds, Kelly and Benn weigh roughly the same. There would certainly be no need to implement a “rehydration clause” or warp the definition of a “fair fight” to ensure it materialised. Indeed, only last summer Kelly was talking up the simplicity of the fight, both to make and to win, and sounded enthused by the possibility of it happening. “I’d probably knock Conor Benn out, if not totally outbox him,” Kelly said in June. Asked then if he would meet Benn at either 154 or 157 pounds, the 31-year-old showed no hesitation: “In a heartbeat,” he said. “It wouldn’t even be a question. It would just be like, ‘Yes, sign, done.’”
Many observers would share Kelly’s confidence and admit that this confidence has only grown in light of watching how Kelly, now 18-1-1 (9 KOs), handled Murtazaliev on Saturday night. It is perhaps for that reason Kelly, despite holding a world title, will now find himself low down on the list of opponents Benn would opt to fight next.
In days of old, a world title would have been enough. It would have been the ticket; the incentive to make the fight. However, today there is a sense that a world title, regardless of the sanctioning body, is secondary to profile and clout and, yes, notoriety. On each of those fronts, Josh Kelly, if compared to other available options, pales into insignificance in the mind of a fighter like Conor Benn. He will, when asked, say, “Yeah, but what does he bring to the table?” Benn, let’s not forget, now shares this table with esteemed company: Messrs Golovkin, Usyk, Bivol and Beterbiev. He even has pictures to prove it.
“Conor’s a very clever fighter in terms of marketing,” Kelly had to concede last year. “I should take a leaf out of his book. I should start shouting everybody out. I should just say, ‘I’m only fighting the ones who are going to make me the most money.’”
Were he that way inclined, Kelly may have been in New York last week rather than Newcastle. There, at Madison Square Garden, he would have been able to rub shoulders with some of the best boxers of the modern era and he would have been permitted to sit in Row B and analyse one of the world’s current best as though he was somehow a peer, a rival, an equal. He could have shown up with bright blonde hair to guarantee nobody missed him. He could even have jumped in the ring at the end of the fight and talked tough as everyone around him egged him on.
Instead, Josh Kelly stayed home on Saturday night. There, at home, he felt like he belonged. Never an imposter, he felt welcome, he felt important, and he felt, quite rightly, as though the eyes of the world were on him. He then received confirmation of his significance when, just after 10 o’clock, an IBF world title was wrapped around his waist. This meant he joined an exclusive club of IBF champions, which includes Gennadiy Golovkin, Oleksandr Usyk, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. There are even pictures to prove it.
