Frank Warren doesn’t believe Conor Benn or Vergil Ortiz Jr want to fight David Avanesyan
Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren believes that welterweight contenders Conor “The Destroyer” Benn (20-0, 13ko) and Vergil Ortiz Jr (18-0, 18ko) are not interested in fighting David “Ava” Avanesyan (28-3-1, 16ko).
Warren made it public that an offer was made to Benn, but there was no response.
“We’ve made him an offer, and we’re waiting for him to come back. It hasn’t come back yet. It’s a quite lucrative offer for him, so we’ll see where it goes…that is a big fight, a great fight. One I’d certainly like to see.”
Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions CEO
Benn, ranked #5 (WBC, WBA, IBF) and #11 WBO is coming off the biggest win of his career with a devastating knockout victory over former junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri.
During the WBC convention, the organization ordered a final eliminator between its #1 ranked contender Ortiz Jr and Avanesyan. Moreover, Ortiz holds #1 (WBO), #2 (WBA), and #4 (IBF) rankings. He had an amazing 2021, with knockout wins over former title contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas and former champion Maurice Hooker.
Keep in mind that Avanesyan is ranked #2 (WBC), #5 (WBO), #7 (IBF), and #12 (WBA), and he lost to WBA ‘regular’ champion Lamont Peterson. Also, he holds a victory over 2020 Hall of Fame nominee “Sugar” Shane Mosley. So there is a good reason why Warren wants to make these fights. He believes his fighter would undoubtedly be the victor.
WILL SOMEONE FIGHT HIM!
During an interview with The Lowdown, the British promoter expressed that Matchroom Boxing said that Benn needed one more fight before fighting Avanesyan.
“If I remember right, either Matchroom [Boxing] or [Eddie] Hearn said that he [Conor Benn] wanted one more fight, and then he would take on our man, David. So let’s get it on.”
Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions CEO
Warren pointed out how there is no problem with letting Avanesyan fight on the rival networks. However, he made it clear that neither team nor the fighters would want the fight.
“They won’t want that [to fight Avanesyan], they said they wanted it…..If they are up for it, is just get two envelopes, one from Matchroom and one from us. We put our bids in, whoever wins it, it goes on Matchroom or it goes on Queensberry.
“Ortiz was apparently going to fight in January or sometime. I don’t know if that is still going ahead. Again, we have no problem with that fight. Let’s see what happens. I don’t think Ortiz will take it. But we will see.” – Frank Warren.
Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions CEO
The boxing community is focused on a potential 2022 showdown between unified champion Errol Spence Jr and WBO champion Terence Crawford. However, these top contenders can compete against each other in some lucrative fights.
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By: Garrisson Bland
