Barry McGuigan does not want to see Conor Benn take a middleweight title shot next.
Benn was stopped in the second round by Ryan Garcia earlier this month in a WBC welterweight title challenge. He had talked about moving up to middleweight or super-middleweight even before that fight.
The Hall of Famer, writing in his Mirror column, thinks the obvious British option would be the wrong one. Denzel Bentley holds the WBO middleweight title and has been ordered to defend against mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.
Benn is still box office. He can come again. But he has to prove himself. I would caution against jumping straight back in against WBO middleweight champion Denzel Bentley.
He understands why it is tempting. Benn’s father Nigel held a version of the middleweight title.
You can see the appeal, an all-British clash for the belt his father once held. But that kind of engagement is the last thing he needs off the back of a devastating loss.
McGuigan suggested 154lbs instead. The reasoning is that Benn would be less drained than he was at welterweight without giving up the size he would at 160 or 168.
Benn, 29, fought Chris Eubank Jr twice at middleweight last year, though both bouts carried a 10lb rehydration clause that limited Eubank.
