CARL FROCH and Josh Taylor have warned Conor Benn against taking on American maestro Shakur Stevenson.
over 12 one-sided rounds in New York last month to win the 140lb WBO title.
Conor Benn has been warned not to face Shakur StevensonCredit: Reuters
Stevenson called out Benn last monthCredit: DAZN
And the first thing the newly-crowned four-weight world champion did was call out Benn – who got into the Madison Square Garden ring
Another ringsider that night in New York was British boxing great and former super-middleweight world champ Froch.
And he urged against fighting pound-for-pound star Stevenson.
Froch, 48, said on SunSport’s No Glove Lost episode: “I just watched Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson.
“If I’m managing Conor Benn, I wouldn’t want to put him in there with them.
“And I called him a “novice” a couple of weeks ago, which I probably shouldn’t have done because he’s not a novice, but in my eyes, when you’ve not won an English, British, Commonwealth, European title, you’re still building.
“And there’s nothing to say that he can’t go in with some of these top boys and beat them, but there’s nothing that to suggest that he definitely does.
“So I can’t go out on a limb and say, ‘Yeah, he’ll win a world title in his next fight.’ Conor Benn, which makes a mockery of the rankings.”
The Home of Boxing in 2026
There's a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
will make his return in April against Arslanbek Makhmudov, is closing in on a world title shot and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown.
Canelo Alvarez will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford and heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will also need to defend his straps.
Derek Chisora will fight for the 50th and (perhaps) final time against Deontay Wilder, while Daniel Dubois is also on the comeback trail.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of , Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
February
- Sat 21 – Ryan Garcia vs Mario Barrios – WBC welterweight title – DAZN PPV
- Sat 21 – Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington – DAZN
- Sun 22 – Claressa Shields vs Franchon Crews-Dezurn – heavyweight unification – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Emanuel Navarrete vs Eduardo Nunez – super-featherweight unification – DAZN
March
- Sat 14 – Jazza Dickens vs Anthony Cacace – WBA super-featherweight title – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Sebastian Fundora vs Keith Thurman – Amazon Prime PPV
April
- Sat 4 – Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder – DAZN PPV
- Sat 11 – Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov – Netflix
- Sat 18 – Callum Smith vs David Morrell – DAZN
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Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia - all the info
King Ry returns
RYAN GARCIA is back in the world title fold as he faces Mario Barrios in a huge Las Vegas showpiece.
The 27-year-old star last fought in May when he was humbled by Rolly Romero in a one-sided loss in Times Square.
That came after his stunning win over Devin Haney that was later called a No Contest.
, one of the most followed and popular boxers around, now has a tall task in front of him as he attempts to win a first world title against El Azteca.
Barrios was far from convincing when he defended his WBC welterweight title against – aged 46 and fighting for the first time in more than four years – with.
Garcia comes into the fight as the favourite but the explosive superstar has not always been the most consistent.
The undercard also features some top fights with Gary Russell facing Andy Hiraoka and unbeaten Richardson Hitchins defending his IBF super-lightweight belt against Oscar Duarte.
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Benn finds himself ranked No1 in the WBC’s welterweight standings – despite not fighting in the division in over THREE YEARS.
Meanwhile Ryan Garcia, 27, walks into his second consecutive 147lb title shot on Saturday night against WBC champ Mario Barrios, 30, live on DAZN PPV.
Benn – who is coming off two middleweight mega-fights against Chris Eubank Jr – will be in Las Vegas to watch the fight –
And former undisputed super-lightweight champ Taylor said: “He’s never won a domestic title but unfortunately in this business, it’s like, what makes money makes sense.
“It’s a big massive commercial fight. Obviously Conor Benn is a big name in British boxing now, world boxing after the two Eubank fights.
“So the promoters will be rubbing their hands together, that’s a big, big money fight.”
Benn, 29, lost to Eubank, 36, last April before winning the November rematch.
He drops back down to welterweight with his eyes on Garcia, 27, and WBA champ Rolly Romero, 30.
Both are blockbuster occasions but Taylor joined Froch in advising Benn against stepping up in class against Stevenson, 27.
The Scot icon said: “It can be a little bit of a match because Conor’s big and strong and athletic, size wise, he’s got a chance.
“But I think Shakur schools him all day. But size-wise and strength-wise and going for a fight, that might take a point in the fight.
“But I don’t think Conor can outbox him at all, no. I think that’s quite a straightforward fight for Shakur, to be honest.”
Benn has insisted he will walk away from a lucrative trilogy fight with Eubank to chase his world title dreams.
Ex-WBO champ Barry Jones, our third panelist, revealed: “I spoke to him before the Eubank fight, and he was saying this fight will secure me financially forever, and what a gift that is as well.
“I just love to hear that for any boxer. I mean for me, I didn’t earn a penny so it was great, I was really jealous!
“But anyway, I said, ‘Would you want the third fight for even more money again? And he said, ‘No, I wanna go for a world title.’ That ticks every box.”
Taylor, who retired last year due to an eye injury, added: “That’s good though, because it shows his true ambitions, it shows his true intentions of what he wants to achieve in the sport.
“It’s not all just about the money, he wants to become a world champion, so that’s a good sign, he’s saying things like that.”
Carl Froch, Josh Taylor and Barry Jones on SunSport’s No Glove Lost panel
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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