{"id":637351,"date":"2026-04-29T23:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637351\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T23:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:30:12","slug":"lou-dibella-slams-zuffa-boxings-conor-benn-as-fraud-and-cheater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637351\/","title":{"rendered":"Lou DiBella Slams Zuffa Boxing&#8217;s Conor Benn as &#8216;Fraud&#8217; and &#8216;Cheater&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4a\">The number of Conor Benn detractors continues to grow, as another well-known figure in boxing is uninspired by his recent performances.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4d\">Following Benn\u2019s unanimous decision win over Regis Prograis on April 11, many fighters and well-known people in boxing were uninspired by Benn\u2019s performance. \u201cThe Destroyer\u201d was largely expected to KO Prograis, who came into the fight with multiple injuries, before the bout went the distance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777505411_635_01jt0sj7ay9mad58b6wr.jpg\" alt=\"Conor Benn (left) throwing a jab against Chris Eubank Jr. (right)\" title=\"Conor Benn (left) throwing a jab against Chris Eubank Jr. (right)\" width=\"1459\" height=\"820\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"4n\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Conor Benn (left) throwing a jab against Chris Eubank Jr. (right) | IMAGO \/ Action Plus<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4r\">Lou DiBella, the former head of HBO Sports and a boxing promoter, made an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, where he voiced his thoughts on Benn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI sort of do think he (Conor Benn) is a fraud. He\u2019s a pedestrian prizefighter with a famous lineage, and a cheater who got bigger by cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lou DiBella<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4x\">\u201cI think he has a following because he\u2019s Nigel Benn\u2019s kid, and I think he has a following in the UK where people look past his indiscretions and mediocrity,&#8221; DiBella continued. &#8220;I think both of them are astounding. I think his mediocrity is astounding, and I think his indiscretions have been too. But people like me want to see him get his ass kicked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I sort of do think [Conor Benn] is a fraud. He&#8217;s a pedestrian prizefighter with a famous lineage, and a cheater, and frankly got bigger by cheating.<\/p>\n<p>I think his mediocrity is astounding, and I think his indiscretions have been too&#8230; People like me, they wanna see him get his\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vpGU1J4yWD\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/vpGU1J4yWD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/arielhelwani\/status\/2049192976233181383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"53\">DiBella was formerly the promoter of Prograis before the two mutually parted ways in 2020 after Prograis\u2019 contract expired. <\/p>\n<p>Lou DiBella Calls for Conor Benn\u2019s Next Fight<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"59\">Boxing Fans and media have been speculating about Conor Benn\u2019s next fight. The star signed a multi-year deal with Zuffa Boxing after his fight with Prograis and is also the mandatory <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/boxing\/former-champion-predicts-ryan-garcia-would-ko-conor-benn-amid-fight-rumors\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">challenger for Ryan Garcia\u2019s 147-pound WBC title<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5c\">Garcia and Benn have reportedly been in talks for a fight, with Garcia revealing on a recent Kick stream that the two could be headed for a clash in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5f\">\u201cHis name is Conor Benn, he\u2019s from the UK,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to eat that up. Conor is about to get blasted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ryan Garcia said he\u2019s fighting Conor Benn this August in Vegas \ud83d\ude33 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sB0wHIIXvo\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/sB0wHIIXvo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HappyPunch\/status\/2044624632083320838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">Lou DiBella told Ariel Helwani that he would entertain a fight between Garcia and Benn, which at this point seems like the most likely outcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5o\">\u201cI\u2019ll buy Ryan Garcia and him, I\u2019ll watch it. Because I\u2019m hoping Ryan is going to knock him the hell out,\u201d DiBella said. \u201cHe\u2019s a very talented kid, and I think he\u2019s more talented than Conor Benn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">A fight between Benn and Garcia would be massive both in the United States and in the UK. Both fighters have major followings and are among the most popular fighters in the sport.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The number of Conor Benn detractors continues to grow, as another well-known figure in boxing is uninspired by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-637351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}