Conor Benn does not know what comes next, and the only answer he has right now is time with his children.
The 29-year-old posted a lengthy statement on X on Monday morning, his first extended comments since Ryan Garcia stopped him in the second round at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Everybody keeps asking “What’s next for Conor Benn?” The truth is, I don’t have the answer.
Benn then laid out what a decade of chasing a world title has cost the people closest to him.
But giving everything comes at a cost. 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.
He closed by thanking the fans who travelled to Las Vegas and those who stayed up into the early hours in the UK, saying he will never take that support for granted on the nights things don’t go to plan.
Benn Said Something Different Before The Fight
Through fight week, Benn insisted he was moving back up in weight afterwards regardless of the result. He had boiled down to the welterweight limit for the first time since April 2022, weighing 146 pounds on Friday after spending the build describing the cut as brutal.
On Monday he gave no timeline for a return at any weight, and no mention of the division at all.
The fight lasted four minutes and 25 seconds. Garcia dropped him with a right hand early in the second, and referee Thomas Taylor waved it off at 1:25 with Benn covering up on the ropes and returning nothing. Benn did not speak afterwards and was taken to hospital as a precaution, then posted a short message accepting the result a few hours later.
Zuffa Boxing Is Prepared To Wait
The pause arrives on an expensive contract. Benn left Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing in February for a reported $15 million one-fight deal, then signed a five-fight extension running through 2028 in April. Saturday was the first bout under that agreement.
Dana White had already answered the question before Benn did. Asked at the post-fight press conference what was next for the Englishman, White said the decision sits with the fighter.
The kid goes home, enjoys some time with his family, relax, enjoy the success that he’s had this year, and when he’s ready to fight again, he calls us, and we’ll put something together.
White added that Benn will fight again, and put the night down to how good Garcia is rather than anything Benn did wrong.
