By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Conor Benn of England will be defending his WBA Continental Title against Adrian Granados of Berwyn, Illinois this Saturday, Sept. 4th. The 12-round bout from Leeds, England can be seen live in most nations via DAZN. Benn last fought in April when he stopped Samuel Vargas in 80 seconds while Granados last boxed in May when he battled to an eight-round draw with Jose Luis Sanchez.
The 24-year-old Benn is the son of former British great and world champion Nigel Benn. He fought as an amateur in Australia with 20 wins in 22 contests before turning pro in 2016. Since then he’s boxed 68 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 18-0 with 12 Kos. He has pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent.
Benn stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has an unlisted reach. He’s got a decent chin but has been on the deck as a pro when Cedrick Peynaud dropped him twice in the first round in 2017. However, Benn picked himself up and returned the favour in the fifth and sixth rounds to earn a six-round decision. The two met again a year later with Benn taking a 10 round unanimous decision to capture the vacant WBA Continental Welterweight Title.
He’s defended it four times now as he stopped Jussi Koivula and Steve Jamoye, beat Sebastian Formella by decision and then stopped Vargas in his last outing. Benn has been brought along rather slowly and hasn’t faced a legitimate contender or anybody close to one as yet. However, at least he’s taking another step up in class this weekend against Granados.
The 31-year-old Granados enters the contest with a mark of 21-8-3 with 15 Kos. He’s 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 74-inch reach which gives him an inch height advantage over Benn. He turned pro in 2008 of a decent amateur career and has fought 194 rounds since then. Granados isn’t really a powerful puncher as his knockout ratio currently sits at 45.5 per cent.
He was on a five-fight winning streak until losing a controversial 10-round split decision to Adrien Broner in February, 2017. He’s also been beaten by 12-round unanimous decision by Shawn Porter in 2017, 10-round majority decision by Felix Diaz in November, 2014 and a 10-round split decision to Brad Solomon in May of 2015. His latest defeats came at the hands of Danny Garcia when he was stopped for the only time in his career in April, 2019, and a 10-round unanimous decision to Robert Easter Jr in his next fight six months later.
Granados’ two other defeats came to Frankie Gomez by an eight-round unanimous decision in August, 2011 and by four-round split decision to Jose Juan Fuentes in November, 2008. His draws came against former world champion Kermit Cintron over 10 rounds in March, 2013, an eight-round affair with Lanardo Tyner in 2011 and against Sanchez in his last fight. Granados fought Javier Fortuna in 2018 but the fight was called a no-decision after Fortuna fell out of the ring in the fourth round.
Prediction…
Granados has taken on some tough foes during his career including former world champions Adrien Broner, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Javier Fortuna and Robert Easter Jr. He was competitive in all of those fights but wasn’t able to get over the hump and win any of them. He’s a bit past his prime right now but should be the toughest test to date for Benn. As for Benn, he’s not quite as exciting as his father Nigel was but has been getting the job done. He possesses enough speed and power to take care of Granados at this stage of their careers and I’m expecting him to remain unbeaten on Saturday after a hard night’s work.
