Conor Benn Destroys Chris Van Heerden in England

Just like his nickname Conor “The Destroyer” Benn did exactly that against Chris Van Heerden and once again reinforced himself as a force in the welterweight division with an emphatic knockout on Saturday.

Benn can punch.

“I like boxing and then I knock them out,” said Benn.

Despite facing a crafty southpaw, the hard-charging Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) needed a round to study South Africa’s Van Heerden (28-3-1) before giving the crowd at Manchester Arena its desired knockout outcome.

It was expected that the veteran Van Heerden, who trains in Southern California, would use his vast arsenal of left-handed skills to offset the aggressiveness of Benn.

In the first round Benn charged forward as expected and Van Heerden used his counter-punching skills, especially the counter right hook, to keep Benn from overrunning him. It was effective but not enough to win the round.

Benn used his explosive quickness and power to keep Van Heerden in backward gear though the South African did connect with some pinpoint counters. It was a close first round, but Benn was busier and more aggressive.

The crowd seemed to settle in expecting a more competitive second round. Benn wasn’t about to concede and opened up with a one-two that caught Van Heerden on the chin and hurt the visitor. Benn immediately opened up with a nine-punch volley including a right uppercut and overhand right that collapsed Van Heerden to the floor in a heap of surrender. The referee motioned the fight over at 59 seconds of the second round.

Benn was declared the winner by knockout.

“Easy work. Easy work,” yelled Benn.

The impressive win established Benn as a true welterweight contender.

“Now he can go against the more serious players in the division,” said Eddie Hearn. “He’s a super star and he’s really, really good.”

“You got (Errol) Spence fighting tonight,” said Benn when asked if he feels ready for any of the current world champions. “I’ll leave the matchmaking to Hearn.”

Female World title

Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 Kos) strolled passed Argentina’s former world champion Edith Matthysse (17-12-1) as easily as drinking a cup of tea in her first defense of the WBC and IBO super featherweight titles.

It was immediately evident that Baumgardner was too fast, too strong and too smart for Matthysse who held a featherweight world title several years ago. But this is 2022 and this new wave of skilled fighters are too much for even former champions.

Baumgardner used a steady supply of jabs and quick powerful combinations to punish Matthysse who never seemed close to being seriously hurt. Yet, she was unable to put pressure on Baumgardner except with a few flurries here and there.

After 10 repetitive rounds, all three judges scored it 100-90 for Baumgardner in her first world title defense.

Other Bouts

Chris Billam-Smith (14-1, 10 KOs) knocked out Tommy McCarthy (18-4, 9 KOs) in the eighth round of their cruiserweight fight. It was a rematch of their first encounter that Billam-Smith won by split decision. This time it was emphatic as Billam-Smith connected with a dozen shots and downed McCarthy at 1:28 of the eighth round.

Campbell Hatton (7-0) remained undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Argentina’s Ezequiel Gregores (3-10) in a six-round lightweight match. Hatton is the son of boxing great Ricky Hatton.

Light heavyweight Jack Cullen (21-3-1, 9 KOs) bounced back from a knockout loss to win by unanimous decision over Vladimir Belujsky (12-4-1, 8 KOs) after eight rounds. It was a well-matched fight pitting the aggressive Cullen against the counter-punching Belujsky. The score was a badly scored 80-72 for Cullen by the referee. Though Cullen did win he had trouble in the first three rounds.

Cruiserweight prospect Jordan Thompson (13-0, 11 KOs) needed only a single punch to knock out Argentina’s Marian Gudino (14-6, 9 KOs) in the second round. Thompson caught Gudino walking toward him with a short right uppercut for a knockout at 47 seconds of the second round.

Thomas Whittaker Hart (7-0) remained undefeated against Ben Ridings (5-2) with a steady supply of punching over eight rounds. Ridings constantly held instead of punched in losing the light heavyweight fight by decision.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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