By Jack Tiernan: Eddie Hearn says he wants Maurice ‘Mighty Mo’ Hooker as the next opponent for welterweight contender/prospect Conor Benn to fight in April in London, England.
Things are looking desperate for Hearn searching for the ideal older former world champion to match Benn against.
It’s unclear what Hearn’s next move will be if he comes up empty in his attempt to get the struggling ‘Mighty Mo’ Hooker to take the fight with Benn.
The 32-year-old Texas native Hooker fits the mold for the type of opponent that Hearn has been matching Conor Benn against, as the American has lost 2 out of his last three fights and looks to be about done.
Hearn down to his third option for Benn
In Hooker’s last fight, he was bludgeoned into submission by the young 23-year-old phenom Vergil Ortiz Jr. on March 20th. That fight was disturbing to watch because Hooker took a terrible beating and was never competitive for even an instant.
Ortiz teed off without letup on him with huge shots from the word go in that contest, and you can argue that the fight should have been halted earlier to save Hooker from taking unnecessary punishment.
That’s a fighter that Benn COULD fight if Hearn wanted to throw him in the deep end, but he seems reluctant to do so, even though Conor is two years older than Vergil.
Hearn reveals that he struck out with his first two options for Benn (20-0, 13 KOs) to fight next, failing to get the shopworn Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner or 38-year-old Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero.
“Any of them,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said to Pro Boxing Fans. “Adrien Broner does want a comeback fight first, and then he talks about fighting Conor Benn.
“Guerrero is with PBC, who don’t seem to want to send fighters into big fights with us, and Hooker is a fighter, and he’s a very good fighter.
The former four-division world champion Broner was the prize that Hearn wanted most of all for Conor Benn to fight next, but ‘The Problem’ wants a warm-up match first before potentially the son of the famous British legend Nigel Benn.
If Conor had Nigel’s talent, perhaps Hearn wouldn’t need to scour the ranks of the older fighters to dig up the opposition for him to beat.
The recently knocked out former WBO light welterweight champion Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) is Hearn’s third choice for the 25-year-old Benn to fight in April.
Hooker is coming off a knockout loss
We’ll see if Hooker, 32, will take the offer to travel the UK to fight ##5 WBA, 7 WBA, #7 WBC Benn in his backyard in London.
Hooker lost his WBO 140-lb title two and a half years ago in a sixth-round knockout to WBC champion Jose Ramirez.
In that fight, the 32-year-old Hooker made it easy for Ramirez by repeatedly backing up against the ropes and covering up in a defensive posture.
Benn does well against fighters that fight with their backs against the ropes, as we saw in his last fight against the faded 37-year-old veteran Chris Algieri on December 11th in Liverpool, England.
Although Algieri is viewed as a highly intelligent fighter, he fought like he had no sense like an amateur with the way he continually fought off the ropes, giving himself no room to evade the huge punches being thrown at him by Benn.
Without the power to keep Benn off, Algieri was quickly taken out in four rounds in a highlight-reel knockout.
“It’s a very, very tough fight. He had a great fight with Ortiz last time out, got stopped with a hand injury,” said Hearn of Hooker.
“If he wants it and the team wants it, very happy to make that fight in London,” Hearn said of wanting Hooker next for Conor Benn.
For Benn to progress, Hearn should consider matching him against better opposition. One gets the sense that Hearn is raiding the old folk’s homes in the selection of opponents for Benn, and it suggests to some that he lacks confidence in him.
Benn’s famous dad, Nigel, wasn’t matched with kid’s glove the way Conor is, but of course, he had a lot more talent. In every department, Nigel was a better fighter than Conor Benn has shown thus far.
Conor will never possess the size, hand speed, power, inside game, or toughness his famous dad Nigel possessed. Hence, that explains why Hearn is matching Benn against only older fighters oast their best rather than talented opposition that can help him improve, like DavidAvanesyan, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and Vergil Ortiz Jr.
To some boxing fans, it seems that Hearn is just focusing on matching Benn in sure-thing fights so that he keeps making money based on him being the son of the famous Nigel Benn.
It’s kind of the same thing we saw with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. making millions from being the son of the famous Mexican boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez. Some boxing fans believe that Julio Jr. got fights that he likely wouldn’t have if not for him being the son of Chavez Sr.
