Trainer Tony Sims is unsure that the timelines of his fighter, Conor Benn, and WBC welterweight title challenger Ryan Garcia will line up.
Benn and Garcia have been linked to a Cinco De Mayo fight, should Garcia claim the crown from WBC beltholder Mario Barrios when they meet on February 21.
Benn has said on social media that he plans to be ringside for Barrio-Garcia in Las Vegas.
“I’ll give you a preview,” said Garcia.
“He’s mandatory for the winner of that fight, so he’s in a good position,” Sims said. “It depends on how big the turnaround is. February 21 is the week before March and I know Conor would like to box in April but that’s only eight or nine weeks after his [Garcia’s] fight, so I just don’t see Garcia fighting that quickly or if [he’s unsure if] Conor will fight in the interim.
“We’ve got to see who wins that first. Garcia was a big favorite against Rolly Romero and we know what happened with that, so we will see how it plays out and get something on the backburner to keep him [Benn] busy [should they need to].”
Any additional time will also allow Benn to slowly drop back down to weight. While the WBC has ranked him as their No. 1 at 147lbs, Benn has not boxed there since 2022, and his last two fights, a thrilling loss and a resounding victory against Chris Eubank Jnr, came at 160lbs.
“It gives us time to bring his weight down,” Sims added. “He’s been doing that gently since the fight. He’s not a proper middleweight but he’s walking around under 160lbs and we’re looking to bring him down to 158lbs next week and bring it down gently.”
It was in November when Benn defeated Eubank in their rematch. He did so thoroughly, dropping his rival near the end and winning every round on the way through.
Eubank’s team revealed he had medical issues, and had complained about the weight the fight was made at, and about the amount of weight the fighters could put back on after weighing in.
But Benn was also vastly improved in the return, composed, assured and tactically precise.
Sims is even-handed, saying the result meant both instances were true.
“It’s probably both,” said the coach. “Obviously, we worked really hard to rectify the wrongs that Conor did in the first fight. He had it in his head he was looking to knock him out with the first big shot and then he wobbled him badly in the first round.”
With that in mind, the gameplan was null and void and Benn went on a 12-round assault in what was commonly awarded Fight of the Year honors.
The rematch was nothing like the first battle of attrition.
“He [Benn] worked hard on the gameplan on staying focused and don’t let him get under your skin,” said Sims.
“He worked a strict regimen of fighting, using his jab, making Eubank miss and countering straight away. I actually felt he could have stopped Eubank three or four rounds earlier. I thought Eubank was ready to be knocked out. I think he might have had a fight too many. When Conor took him to the well in the first fight, Eubank didn’t want to go back to that place again.”
