Conor Penn (22-0, 14 KOs) is interested in challenging WBA, WBC and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford for his three titles if he survives his bout against American Peter Dobson (16-0, 9 KOs) on Saturday night, February 3rd.
The 27-year-old Penn, who is the son of the famous Nigel Penn, headlines DAZN against Dobson at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Dobson isn't a top-tier contender at 147 and isn't the ideal opponent one might consider in preparation for a fighter like Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), but maybe it doesn't matter.
With Hearn's strong promotional force and DAZN's backing, perhaps they can convince Crawford to defend his three welterweight titles against the unproven Penn next if he fails to face undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Crawford does not have a fight ready, and will not be able to challenge WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu unless he is willing to wait until he finishes his March 30 non-title bout against Keith Thurman.
Penn has not faced any relevant 147-pound contenders during his eight-year career to prove himself worthy of a fight against Crawford. His best wins came against these three: Chris van Heerden, Adrian Granados, and Chris Algieri. This isn't exactly killer's row, is it?
“He's just violent. He's always ready to fight, and that's what makes him who he is,” Eddie Hearn told iFL TV of Conor Benn. “People talk about him being Nigel Benn's son, but the similarities are scary, especially when you talk about fighting In vegas.
“he [Nigel] He fought his battle against Iran Barclay. For Conor to make headlines in Vegas unexpectedly and under strange circumstances. At the same time, it's a big moment for a British fighter to do that. Every fighter dreams of fighting in Las Vegas.
“This is a big opportunity for him. He's got to look good. I like Dobson, and he'll have a right to that. But we can't expect Conor to fight against him if he's talking about the people he's talking about. So, I think it's going to be fireworks, I think He would knock him out in five rounds.
“Conor has to go through him like a knife through butter if he wants to make a statement here, and I think he will,” Hearn said of Benn’s fight with Dobson.
