By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Conor Benn of England will be taking on Samuel Vargas of Bogota, Colombia in London this Saturday, April 10. The 10-round bout can be seen live in most nations via DAZN while those in the UK and Ireland can catch the tilt on Sky Sports Action. Benn last fought in November when he beat Sebastian Formella by a 10-round unanimous decision while Vargas was stopped in the seventh round by Vergil Ortiz in his last outing in July.
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 67 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 17-0 with 11 Kos. He owns decent power with a current knockout ratio of 65.7 per cent.
Benn stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has an unlisted reach, so he’s giving up an inch in height to Vargas. He’s been on the deck as a pro when Cedrick Peynaud dropped him twice in the first round in 2017 but 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 three times against Jussi Koivula and Steve Jamoye by stoppage and Formella by decision 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 a step up in class this weekend against Vargas.
Vargas was born in Colombia, but now calls Toronto, Canada his home. He’s 31 years old and has a record of 31-6-2 with 14 Kos under his belt. He turned pro back in 2010 and has 262 rounds to his name since. He stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach. Vargas’ two career draws were against Mauro Godoy over 10 rounds in 2018 last year and another 10-rounder with Tebor Bosch in 2011.
In his other career defeats, Vargas was stopped by Errol Spence Jr. in the fourth round in 2015, dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Pablo Munguia 2013, was stopped by Danny Garcia in the seventh round in 2016, dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Amir Khan in 2018 and lost a 10-round split decision to Luis Collazo in 2019.
He’s taken on some fine boxers over the years but has more or less fallen just short when stepping up in class. However, he did beat Ali Funeka by 10-round majority decision in 2017 to win the NABA Welterweight Title. Vargas doesn’t possess much in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of 35.9 per cent.
He did manage to drop Khan in the second round of their bout and was dropped himself in the second and third rounds. Vargas is a solid pro with a lot of heart and there’s no shame in being stopped by Ortiz, Spence and Garcia. Since turning pro, Vargas has also captured the Canadian Welterweight and WBA-NABA Canada Super Welterweight Title as well as the WBA-NABA Welterweight crown. However, he’s won just two of his last six fights with three defeats and a draw.
Prediction…
Benn isn’t the exciting boxer his father Nigel was but he’s been getting the job done up to now. He needs a stiff test and Vargas should provide it for him. It’s almost sink or swim time for Benn and if he’s as good as well all think he is, he should be able to do enough to add another W to his record against Vargas on Saturday, but it might be a tough task.
