Is Amir Khan ducking Conor Benn? After stopping Samuel Vargas in round one over the weekend, unbeaten Conor Benn quickly expressed his desire for a big British clash against the former 140-pound champion, who struggled with, but ultimately defeated Vargas in 2018. Khan begged off the fight, tweeting, "Conor well done. Great kid, wish him the best.  At his age I was a world champ. Maybe if he had some belts that fight would make sense but he’s got a long way to go yet."

 

Khan was responding to the following post-fight comment from Benn: "[This win] shows the level I’m at. Errol Spence, Danny Garcia, Vergil Ortiz, Amir Khan – nobody banged [Vargas] out like that. First round, first round! He came and he was game. He took my belt off me in the week and I had a little stare down with him. He was telling me he was ready to fight, and he was talking a good game. He said I had no power. It’s irrelevant because a lot of people can talk. My shots were landing flush. You could tell they were hurting him. When I first hit him it landed swiftly and I thought, ‘right, this is going to be a much quicker night than I thought’. I’ve been working on my power with my strength and conditioning coach Dan Lawrence. We’ve been working with Tony, endless hours. First to arrive last to leave. He’s always pushing me. I told you lot I’d knock him out in the first round. I was cool, calm and collected. I work so hard. Give me Amir Khan. I know he’s too busy on reality TV. If he wants it, he can have it. I can deal with pressure. I can cope with it. I can live with it, no problem. I’m ready for the top dogs – Shawn Porter, Adrien Broner? Forget the word prospect, I ain’t a prospect no more.”