Coming off of his 8 round points victory over Josef Zarahdnik in April, British Welterweight Conor Benn (14-0-0, 9KO) is the main attraction for the first time in his career when he defends his WBA Continental Welterweight strap against Jussi Koivula (24-6-1, 9KO) of Finland in a 10 rounder at York Hall in London.
Koivula (24-6-1, 9 KOs), will be a step-up from current competition for Benn. The best opponent for the Finnish welterweight is tough veteran Samuel Vargas who he dropped a split decision against in 2017. He has been stopped twice in 31 fights and is coming off a 12 round decision loss in April.
At 22, Benn continues to carve out his own name in boxing apart from just being known as the son of Nigel, the former two weight World Champion. Although heavily criticized for his caution to the wind, action first mentality, Benn has already stated that there will likely be more of the same in this bout as he thrives off classic dogfights.
“I’ve become numb to the criticism. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of me, I know what I’m about. The reason they want me as the main event on Friday is I’m an entertaining fighter and that comes naturally.
I would have liked to have brought a lot more explosiveness into my last fight. This time I want to incorporate more of the old Conor Benn. Still thinking, using my boxing brain, but still having that same attitude. I don’t want to lose that Benn attitude.”
You can catch Benn vs Koivula Friday at 2pm ET/ 11am PT on DAZN.