The Rumor Mill – Did Conor Benn actually get 15 million dollars?
In the past several days one of the biggest stories in boxing is that Conor Benn has broken away from Matchroom Boxing and has reportedly signed to Zuffa Boxing. This has been posted by multiple media outlets and has generated reactions by many in the boxing world. For starters, Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn has made multiple statements about it, with the general notion that he was blindsided by the decision by Benn. Some boxing fans were in shock as they could not believe that Benn would make the move to Zuffa, given that they just started having fight cards in January with Callum Walsh vs Carlos Ocampo headlining their first event.
There were also reactions from people outside of the boxing world such as MMA star Sean O’Malley who is upset that Benn would be able to get a deal that lucrative when he has been one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. With Benn not having any world titles to his name and only two high profile fights against Chris Eubank Jr, it is surprising that he would be able to sign for 15 million dollars…or did he?
Zuffa Boxing is being ran by the TKO Group, who is the owner of WWE and the UFC, plus Sela who has been responsible for a number of big sporting events in Saudi Arabia and beyond. While Zuffa has held multiple fight cards in Vegas over the past month, there has not been an event that would equal what has been done by Sela over the past several months. Zuffa has signed multiple fighters to compete under their promotional banner but not to the level of money that is being reported that Conor Benn would make.
There are a few problems that has been raised from the Conor Benn news. One of them is the reports circulating that he is getting 15 million dollars which has not been confirmed. The second issue is that Benn may have signed to fight on an event that will be through Sela, not Zuffa Boxing. Sela has been behind Canelo-Crawford, and most recently Barrios-Garcia. Their increased involvement with boxing has been able to secure the top events in the sport, and they plan to do more big events this year.
One of those events will likely involve Conor Benn as the plan is to have him headline a fight card in the UK. The signing of Benn was for that event and having the Zuffa tag behind it made things confusing for a lot of people. As a result, those who have invested in TKO have asked questions about what is going on and TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro has provided answers.
“We signed Conor Benn for one fight,” Shapiro said. “This is no different than we did for Canelo and Crawford. We hope that Benn will eventually compete within our Zuffa Boxing series on Paramount Plus, but for now this is simply a single fight arrangement.”
There was also more detail as to how Conor Benn would be paid for the fight.
“I am not confirming or denying the amount that Benn is getting paid, but the purse that Benn will be paid for the superfight in 2026 is being covered by Sela, led by our partner Turki Alalshikh.”
