Before long, there will be a void waiting to be filled as the new face of British boxing. Conor Benn will now feel he might just be the man to do it after all.
For the last decade Anthony Joshua has been the country’s leading force, selling out arenas and stadiums, collecting world titles and delivering on the grandest stages having breathed life into a heavyweight division that had been stagnant for a long time. After returning to the ring in 2018, Tyson Fury joined him with the two giants of the sport the best British boxing has had to offer since.
They might not be done yet. Joshua is poised to return after over a year away from the ring and whatever your thoughts on it, his proposed fight with Jake Paul in December will be the biggest boxing event of the year on a worldwide scale.
Joshua and Fury will then have the chance to finally deliver the Battle of Britain we have waited half a decade for in 2026 – potentially one last dance for both men.
It has been some ride, but British boxing must now start looking for its new heroes. Luckily, finding them has rarely been a problem in the past.
Benn, under the guidance of the same man who presided over Joshua’s rise in Eddie Hearn, was thought to be one of those next in line. While lacking Joshua’s amateur pedigree and natural charm, the Benn name and his aggression in the ring had him in a good place, propelling him towards stardom with a sublime run of knockout victories in 2020 and 2021.
The subsequent years were damaging for Benn. The welterweight maintained his innocence throughout the drug test saga after twice testing positive for a banned substance that initially derailed the first Eubank Jr fight, and the ban that followed. But it felt like British boxing hadn’t just fallen out of love with him, but was done with him altogether.
Rightly or wrongly, boxing always tends to move on. While the family history was a huge part of proceedings, Benn and Eubank Jr were twice able to almost sell out the 67,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. There were huge cheers for Benn at times on Saturday night as he dismantled his arch-rival and was clearly the man the fans wanted to triumph despite all that has been said and done.
The Ilford fighter was pretty much punch perfect in north London, finding some poise and control to match the ruthless aggression that has always been part of his make-up. There will be still be questions over what his true level is – as impressive as last night was, Eubank Jr moved and operated like a fighter much older than his 36 years, clearly struggling with the weight drain with his best days long behind him.
But after years of uncertainty, last night felt like a seminal moment for Benn.
British boxing’s young stars ready to take the throne
But he is not the only one looking to inherit the crown. Heavyweight boxing will always be the sport’s blue-riband division, where the biggest money is made and where the most attention lands. With that in mind, Moses Itauma is perhaps the best candidate to fill an imminent void.
The 20-year-old has steamrolled through 13 opponents to date, demolishing Dillian Whyte in one round in August. His next test in January is Jermaine Franklin – the well-schooled American who took Joshua the distance two years ago. Another demolition job will only intensify the hype – and with good reason.
Ben Whittaker, now fighting under Hearn and Matchroom, will also have something to say. While the relentless showboating isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, his charisma and engaging fighting style make him an ideal package. Like Joshua there is also Olympic pedigree there, leaving Tokyo with silver four years ago.
The lightning fast Adam Azim and the hard-hitting Hamzah Sheeraz are also considered contenders with it seemingly just a matter of time before both men become world champions at super-lightweight and middleweight respectively.
The state of women’s boxing in the UK is also in remarkably good nick. The masterful Ellie Scotney and Caroline Dubois are now hoovering up world titles at super-bantamweight and lightweight respectively – Catford’s Scotney is now just one away from the complete set. Olympic golden girl Lauren Price is already halfway there in becoming an undisputed champion after just nine fights. Talent-wise, the pool is as deep as it’s ever been.
Back among the men’s ranks, Joshua’s journey is not over yet and even with his best years behind him, there is still nothing quite like an ‘AJ’ fight night on these shores.
But after a night of redemption for Benn with a new wave of British stars approaching their moment to take off, the new generation is almost ready to battle for the the throne.