Conor Benn defeated former world champion Regis Prograis on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s comeback fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ben won by unanimous decision, 98-92 from all three judges, and Prograis announced his retirement immediately after the contest.
Benn is revisiting the grounds where he ended his rivalry with Chris Eubank Jr. last year, dropping down to a 150-pound catchweight after two middleweight bouts with Eubank.
Prograis, a prodigious two-time super lightweight world champion, was in the twilight years of his career and had moved up in weight for the fight. But he was smart enough in his work to give Ben plenty of food for thought.
The southpaw found holes in Ben’s defense, sometimes landing lefts to the head and others to the body.
The clash of heads also opened up a cut for Ben, giving him more of a challenge.
Conor Benn was back at the scene of his victory over Chris Eubank Jr. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
However, Ben’s youthful energy and consistent aggression got him through. He swung the hook freely and also landed blows to Prograis’ midsection.
Prograis felt his power. Benn staggered him with a one-two at the final bell of the first round, and as the fight progressed Benn landed a right cross to the middle.
In the seventh round, the American’s left cross forced Benn back a step, but then Benn’s right cross did the same.
At the beginning of the ninth round, he attacked Prograis with a jab. He landed a long right hook to the former champion’s ribs and unleashed a series of lead lefts.
Regis Prograis caused Ben some problems at Tottenham.
As the match drew to a close, Prograis was forced to rely on his much-maligned resilience. The only good fighters to have beaten him so far were Josh Taylor, Devin Haney, and Jack Catterall, but no one could stop him.
He also fought tenaciously against Ben. With blood from the cut covering his face, Benn drove hard left and right hooks into Prograis’ jaw, but the American parried the hits and kept his distance for 10 rounds.
Richard Riakpohe became a two-time British champion and declared himself a strong threat in the heavyweight division when he dispatched Jimmy TKV in five rounds.
TKV emerged as the defending champion with a win over Fraser Clarke last year and looked to charm Liakpohe. However, the latter troubled him early in the contest with his booming rights.
Richard Riakpohe celebrates victory over Jimmy TKV (Photo: Chris Dean/BOXXER)
The fight turned violent as TKV attacked and caught Liakpohe in the clinch. TKV was warned by the referee and was given a points deduction for leading with his head.
Liakpohe quickly took matters into his own hands. TKV was clubbed on the side of the head and stumbled to his knees on the canvas.
As Liakpohe headed for the finish, TKV tried to grab him in a hold, but Liakpohe threw him to the canvas.
The challenger landed a huge right and threw another backhand. When his left hook hit hard, his right hook crossed with great force, and he attacked with a left hook and an uppercut, the referee differentiated between the two, ending the fight at 2-12 in the fifth round.
“The plan is to keep knocking them out. I want to challenge for the world title. I’m looking at Fabio Wardley against Daniel Dubois. I want to fight the winner,” Liakpohe declared.
But he also called out Johnny Fisher and said, “I want to offer them a chance to fight for this belt. It’s here for you.”
Justice Hooni defeated Fraser Clarke by majority decision after a 10 round heavyweight showdown.
One judge had it 95-95, but the other two judges had Australia’s Huni winning 96-94.
However, Clark bounced back from the loss with distinction. He cornered Huni, a leading heavyweight contender.
Clark pulled Huni closer. (Photo: Chris Dean/BOXXER)
This was especially important as Clarke was coming into this bout after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Jimmy TKV for the British Heavyweight title in his previous bout. The Olympic medalist’s future career trajectory was in jeopardy.
Under pressure, Clark entered the box from the center of the ring with some confidence. But it was Huni’s hand speed that proved the difference. The Australian player hit a quick left and showed a variety of movements from head to body.
Clark stepped up a gear at the end of the fourth round, clipping Huni with combinations, hooks to the body and uppercuts to the head.
In the ninth round, a nice right cross from Huni hit Clark, and the Australian put the punch to good use, landing a right uppercut.
Clark tried to corner him in the final round, but Huni, satisfied with his work, stood up and finished the match.
Although the result was disappointing for Clark, it was a much improved performance for Clark in his first race under new trainer Joe Gallagher.
