Conor Benn says his showdown against Sebastian Formella on Saturday will determine the progress he has made in his career.
Benn (16-0, 11 KOs) makes a third defence of his WBA Continental Welterweight crown against former IBO champion, Formella (22-1, 11 KOs) behind closed doors at The SSE Arena on Saturday for his first fight of 2020, live on Sky Sports and DAZN in the USA.
‘The Destroyer’ halted Steve Jamoye in four rounds at the O2 Arena last October to remain undefeated in his first 16 professional bouts and believes his meeting with Foremella, who went the distance in defeat to former two-time Welterweight world champion, Shawn Porter in August will show him exactly where he is at.
“Am I the finished article? No far from it,” Benn said in a media call on Tuesday.
“But we’re always working on things I can improve on.
“When I turned pro it was fun and jokes, it was enjoying the ride, just got signed by Matchroom, it was hype, then it got real.
“It’ll take time, it’s one of those things that you can’t rush, it will take time, you’re trying to perfect a craft here under the spotlight.
“Me beating Formella puts me right up there and this is a statement fight for me, I’ve been working on so many things.
“Saturday night will answer a lot of questions, Saturday night we’ll know.”
“It’s gonna be a hard night’s work, if it was a hard night’s work for Shawn Porter it’s gonna be a hard night’s work for me, so no there’s no overlooking him, not from me anyway.
“People who don’t know boxing just think ‘yeah Conor’s going to blow him out,’ no it’s a big step up, it’s a big test and it’ll answer a lot of questions Saturday.”
Benn, who is ranked #15 by the WBA, was in talks to face British and Commonwealth champion Chris Jenkins earlier this year, but the bout never materialised.
The 24-year-old sparred with Kell Brook in the lead up to his fight with Terence Crawford, which ended in a four round stoppage defeat for the Brit last Saturday, but Benn admits it was an honour for him to share the ring with the former IBF world champion and says it has put him in good stead to overcome Formella.
🇬🇧 BROOK x BENN SPARRING
🥊 @SpecialKBrook & @ConorNigel have been sparring ahead of their November fights against @terencecrawford & Sebastian Formella respectively!
📸 @ConorNigel IG#Boxing pic.twitter.com/mlhmcDWYWT
— ProBoxingFans (@ProBoxingFans) October 21, 2020
“I leant about myself,” Benn recalled on the spar.
“I learnt where I’m at in my career and confident in my ability and everything we’ve been working on, because Kell Brook is one of them fighters that I highly look up to and there aren’t many fighters that I do and Kell Brook’s just one of them.
“I went to see his fight with [Gennady] Golovkin, I drove all the way to Sheffield to see his fight with [Errol] Spence and I don’t usually go to the boxing shows, but he’s one of my favourite all-time fighters.
“So for me to spar him, first off it was a privilege and I really did learn where I was at in that spar and everything that my trainer’s been working on we’ve been working on.
“Based on the spar, Formella shouldn’t be a problem.”
Watch the full interview with Conor Benn below where he discusses a potential future fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr, responds to Florian Marku and explains why a domestic clash did not materialise:
