Josh Taylor delivers brutally honest assessment of ‘limited’ Conor Benn after Regis Prograis win

Josh Taylor believes Conor Benn has no chance of cracking world level following his lukewarm win over Regis Prograis.

Benn picked up a unanimous decision victory over Prograis on Saturday night in London, but his performance left a lot to be desired.

Getty

While ‘The Destroyer’ was a comfortable winner on the night, his inability to go through the gears and stop an ageing and seemingly ailing Prograis was cause for concern.

The former two-time super lightweight champion looked like a shadow of his former self and claims he entered the ring with injuries to his rib, jaw, eye and hand.

Prograis even hung up his gloves in the immediate aftermath.

Taylor, who defeated Prograis when both men were at the peak of their powers in 2019, felt uneasy watching his former rival bow out the way he did.

But his biggest takeaway from the fight was Benn’s ‘limited’ boxing skills.

“He’s fit and strong and durable and tough, but he is very limited in boxing ability,” he said during the most recent taping of talkSPORT’s talkBOXING podcast.

“He’s been marketed really well, he’s been matched really well, and fair play to him going to Zuffa and getting the money, if I were in his position, I’d do the same thing.

“But I just don’t think he is a world-class fighter. I think he is British level, fringe European.

“I think there are guys in the UK that would take him out.”

World champions Ryan Garcia and Shakur Stevenson have recently expressed an interest in facing Benn in recent weeks.

Getty

Asked by Simon Jordan whether he thinks the boxing elite are chasing a fight with Benn for an easy payday, Taylor replied: “Yeah, possibly.

“I think it’s a meal ticket [for them].

“Conor’s boxing skills aren’t very great. He’s been dropped a couple of times by lesser opponents [Cedrick Peynaud in 2017].

“With these guys that are world champions and world level, he’s not going to get away with that.

“He couldn’t put an old Prograis away, so these elite fighters are going to deal with him no problem, I reckon.”

Who is Conor Benn expected to fight next?

Benn will now look to cash in his mandatory ticket for a shot at Garcia’s WBC welterweight title.

Getty

The 29-year-old was elevated to the No.1 spot in the WBC welterweight rankings in December despite the fact that he hasn’t competed at 147lbs since 2022.

Talking up the Garcia fight after his win over Prograis, Benn said: “Garcia, I want my belt! I want my belt. Keep my belt warm.

“September. Let’s go. Any day of the week. Twice on Sundays.

“10 rounds, easy. Garcia, you’re next. Keep my belt warm.”

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.