British contender Conor Benn successfully returned to the ring in the U.S., when he faced American welterweight Peter Dobson in the main event live from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday, February 3. The pair went head to head for 12 rounds at 151-pound catchweight. In the end, one judge scored the fight 119-109, while two other judges had 118-110, all in favor of the representative of the UK.
With the victory by unanimous decision, Conor Benn improved to 23-0, 14 KOs and remained undefeated. Post-win the 27-year-old native of Essex, England, who was looking to “wipe out” his opponent, said he was “a bit disappointed” that the knockout didn’t come.
“I always go for the first round, said Conor Benn, who went the full 12-round distance for the first time in his pro career. “If I get him out of there… If I see, I take it. I don’t miss when I shoot. I took my shots, he was still standing. He was tough, but he was in there to survive, really. A bit disappointed, I come out like I said I’d come out and if he had opened up instead of surviving, I would have got.. He would have been in for it.
“You can always do better. I’ll go back and I’ll access and no doubt I’ll be disappointed with things that I don’t know… Silly right I got caught with. But overall, this is just more for me getting back to where I was mentally and it’s good being at it.”
Benn fought in the United States for the second time in a row, following his outing last September in Orlando, where he defeated Rodolfo Orozco also by unanimous decision. As for the next move, he said that “the dream” was to return and fight in the UK.
Peter Dobson dropped to 16-1, 9 KOs and suffered his first career defeat. The 33-year-old native of The Bronx, New York made his first ring appearance since June 2022, when he defeated Rodrigo Damian Coria by unanimous decision in Atlanta.
In the co-feature, Houston-based southpaw Austin Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin KO’d previously unbeaten Armel Mbumba Yassa (10-1, 7 KOs) of Germany by way of Congo in the seventh round at middleweight. Among other results, Khalil Coe (8-0-1, 6 KOs) of Jersey City, New Jersey stopped previously unbeaten Mexican Juan Gerardo Osuna (20-1, 18 KOs) in the second round at light heavyweight. Plus, British Johnny Fisher (11-0, 10 KOs) eliminated Dmytro Bezus (10-2, 5 KOs) of Ukraine in the first round at heavyweight.