Conor Benn Blasts out Chris Algieri in Liverpool

Ever-improving welterweight Conor Benn, the son of former two-division world champion Nigel Benn who was one of England’s most celebrated fighters, improved to 20-0 (13) with a brutal fourth-round knockout of Chris Algieri (25-4) on a Matchroom promotion tonight in Liverpool.

The 37-year-old Algieri, a former WBO 140-pound champion who had gone the distance with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, had been stopped once before, that coming at the hands of Errol Spence, but had never been knocked unconscious before tonight. The punch that did was a straight right to the jaw that was part of a left-right combination. It left Algieri in a crumpled heap on the canvas. The Long Island native, who had won four straight in New York rings since his loss to Spence, saw his record dip to 25-4.

Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, was ecstatic. “[Welterweight] is the most difficult division in boxing,” he said. “Let’s get him ready to swim with the sharks. He’ll be a welterweight world champion in 2022.

After the match, Benn called out the winner of the forthcoming contest between Amir Khan and Kell Brook and also said that he fancied a date with Yorgenis Ugas. Hearn apparently has other ideas. He has made it known that he is exploring a fight between Conor Benn and problem child Adrien Broner.

Co-Feature

Unified lightweight champion Katie Taylor, the most admired sporting personality in Ireland, maintained her belts and improved to 20-0 (6) with a unanimous decision over 27-year-old Kazakh invader Firuza Sharipova (14-2). The judges had it 98-92, 97-92, and 96-93, scores that struck many viewers as too wide.

This was a messy fight with an excessive amount of clinching and frequent head butts, none of which produced any discernible damage. Sharipova, who had won 14 straight after losing her pro debut, did well when she was able to keep the fight at a distance, but Taylor did a good job of smothering her punches. A point was deducted from Sharipova for hitting on the break, a decision that did not reflect well on the referee.

Taylor, 35, is on a collision course with Amanda Serrano who fights next week underneath Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley II on SHOWTIME PPV. Her performance today did nothing to make that match more mouth-watering and unless Serrano throws in a clinker, it figures that the Puerto Rican will go to post a solid favorite no matter the venue.

Other Bouts of Note

Liverpool veteran Robbie Davies Jr, currently trained by Shane McGuigan, resurrected his floundering career with a second-round stoppage of Hank Lundy. Davies rocked Lundy with a hard left hand near the end of the opening round and the 37-year-old Philadelphia journeyman, normally a durable sort, never fully recovered. He was eating leather with his back against the ropes when the referee intervened. The official time was 1:23.

Davies improved to 22-3 (15). Lundy lost for the fourth time in his last six starts, declining to 31-10-1.

In a 10-round junior lightweight contest between two boxers with identical 13-0 records, Cardiff’s Joe Cordina, a 2016 Olympian, won a lopsided decision over Belgium’s Miko Khatchatryan. The judges had it 100-90 and 98-92 twice for the Welshman.

Middleweight Caoimhin Agyarko improved to 10-7 (7) with a ninth-round stoppage of SoCal’s Noe Larios Jr. A former stablemate of Billy Joe Saunders, the London-born, Belfast-raised Agyarko aspires to be the first black Irishman to win a world title. Larios was 14-0 heading in, a ledger built entirely on the backs of suspect opposition in Tijuana.

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