By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Conor Benn of England will be defending his WBA Continental Welterweight Title against southpaw Chris van Heerden of South Africa in Manchester, England this Saturday, April 16th. The 12-round battle can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Benn last fought in December when he stopped Chris Algieri in the fourth round. Van Heerden last boxed in December 2020 when his fight against Jaron Ennis was stopped in the first round and called a no-decision after Van Heerden was cut by an accidental head butt.
The 25-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 82 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 20-0 with 13 Kos. He has pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 65 per cent but has gone the distance in two of his last four fights.
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 five times as he stopped Jussi Koivula and Steve Jamoye, beat Sebastian Formella by decision and then stopped Samuel Vargas in just 80 seconds last April and took a 10-round unanimous decision over Adrian Granados five months later before stopping Algieri. Benn has been brought along rather slowly and hasn’t faced a current legitimate contender as of yet and is arguably taking a sideways step against Van Heerden.
The 34-year-old Van Heerden enters the tilt with a 28-2-1 record with 12 Kos. He’s boxed 234 rounds since making his pro debut in 2006 and is perhaps a bit feather-fisted as his current knockout ratio stands at 37.5 per cent. He’s 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach which gives him an inch edge in height over Benn.
Van Heerden has won several minor and regional titles as a pro such as the WBA Pan African, IBF International, IBO World, South African, and African Welterweight Titles. His first loss came in 2010 when he dropped a 12-round split decision to Nikola Stevanovic in a shot at the IBF Inter-Continental Title. He was then stopped in the eighth round by Errol Spence Jr in 2015 and hasn’t lost since. However, he’s fought just six times since then.
His lone draw was a six-round affair with Page Tshesane back in 2007. Van Heerden mainly fought in Africa until 2013 against local opponents but has met 10 of his last 11 foes in North America after relocating to California. The recognizable opponents he’s beaten include Matthew Hatton, Kaizer Mabuza, Sebastian Lujan, Ray Nahr, Cecil McCalla, Ramon Ayala, Steve Claggett, Timo Schwarzkopf and Aslanbek Kozaev.
Prediction…
Van Heerden has fine boxing skills but he’s getting on in age and hasn’t fought more than a round since August, 2019. He’s a bit past his prime but should still be a decent test for Benn once he gets past the ring rust. Benn has been getting the job done but fans want to see him take a bigger step up in class in the near future with some stiffer tests presented to him. He possesses enough speed and power to take care of Van Heerden at this stage of their careers and I’m expecting him to remain unbeaten on Saturday.
