Welterweight Conor Benn admits he and his father Nigel have a
competitiveness that goes beyond the bounds of a normal family
relationship. So much so that Benn Jnr, 25, will buy a fairground
punchbag game for his 57-year-old parent for Christmas after they
tested their power against each other on a recent visit to Good
Morning Britain.
Benn, who fights Chris Algieri in Liverpool next Saturday, went punch
for punch with his father live on air, with them level after Conor
flunked his first shot and then had a second attempt.
“Listen, I just missed it. I’m buying him one of the machines for
Christmas so we can settle it,” Benn said. “We’re still really
competitive and always will be. We’ve got a £5,000 bet on him making
13st 6lb – that’s every time he comes over and he ends up leaving an
IOU note and goes back to Australia.”
Benn says emulating his father, a two-weight world champion, is not
the objective. “We’ll find out if I can achieve what he did, but my
dad’s just that way,” said Benn, who is undefeated in 19 fights, with
12 knockouts. “Titles and all that aren’t really relevant to my dad.
He sold his belts for charity anyway.
“I’m definitely looking to put the seal on what has been a fantastic
year all round with victory against Chris Algieri,” Benn said of his
veteran American opponent, who has faced Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan.
“It has been a great year, from Sebastian Formella – a former world
cham pion who only lost to Shawn Porter – 13 months ago to Samuel
Vargas, knocked out in one round, and Adrian Granados. All three were
supposed to be tough fights. People keep talking about me being tested
at a higher level and those fights were supposed to do just that, and
they didn’t. Hopefully Algieri will be the man who does so.”