Immediately following Conor Benn’s victory over Peter Dobson with a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday, speculations about potential opponents for the Englishman’s next fight began to circulate. Among the most intriguing possibilities was a clash with pound-for-pound star Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Typical of such situations, the exchanges initiated on social media, with Davis critiquing Benn’s performance against Dobson despite the absence of knockdowns, noting that Benn clearly secured the win on points.
However, Davis expressed his dissatisfaction, tweeting, “No funny, the way you looked last night. Give me 3 weeks & a weekend in Turks and yo a** is grass. You hear me!’.”
Not one to back down, Benn swiftly fired back with a verbal jab: “Oh here he is the woman beating munchkin from Oz! Let’s do it next then?”
Davis, 29, accepted the challenge and sought further details: “Sure why not.. where would you like ya a** whooping at bruv?”
Without hesitation, Benn, 27, instructed his promoter to initiate contact with Davis: “Eddie Hearn, drop the munchkin [Davis] a DM and get this fight made NEXT. I’m sure he’ll screenshot the conversation anyway so we will see who’s full of sh_t. See you soon.”
“I’ll be waiting Eddie Hearn,” was Davis’ concise response.
As negotiations began, Benn tweeted, “Offer on its way Gervumpa Lumpa @Gervontaa Let’s go.”
The question arises: Will we witness “Tank” vs. “The Destroyer”? The Sporting News explores the logistics:
Where would Conor Benn vs. Tank Davis occur? Recently, The Ring’s Joe Santoliquito reported that “numerous sources” suggested Davis’ next bout would take place in the U.K. Although this was before the verbal spat with Benn, Davis’s willingness to travel could facilitate the fight.
Davis previously defended his world title (IBF super featherweight) in the U.K. when he defeated Englishman Liam Walsh in 2017.
At what weight class would Tank Davis vs. Conor Benn transpire? This poses a challenge. Davis competes as a lightweight, having only fought once at super lightweight despite winning a WBA regular title there.
Benn, on the other hand, is a welterweight by trade, and while he was open to facing Chris Eubank Jr. at middleweight, welterweight is his natural division. He stands two-and-a-half inches taller than Davis at 5-8, with a slightly longer reach of 68 inches.
However, despite the dimensional disparities, Benn holds a considerable physical advantage over Davis if the fight occurs at welterweight.
It seems unlikely that Benn can safely drop to a lower weight class.
Who promotes Gervonta Davis? Davis is under the PBC banner and has predominantly fought on Showtime in the U.S. However, with Showtime exiting the boxing scene last year, the PBC established a new partnership with Amazon Prime.
Given this recent development, many doubt the feasibility of a Davis-Benn showdown happening immediately. PBC generally prioritizes in-house matchups, making the collaboration between Al Haymon and Eddie Hearn for this bout a remote possibility.