Conor Benn’s training is taking him to a dark place as he targets becoming a world champion later this year by seizing Ryan Garcia’s WBC welterweight title.
Benn faces Regis Prograis on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 11 after agreeing a one-fight deal with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing worth £11.38 million ($15m).
Fresh from November’s comprehensive points win in his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr, the 29-year-old is in “destroy and destruct” mode as he prepares to take on former two-time world light-welterweight champion Prograis.
“The frame of mind you must go to in boxing and the sort of person you have to be, you can’t be at peace all the time,” Benn said on The Overlap.
“Right now, I’m heavy dieting, thinking about how I’m going to beat this geezer, thinking about how I’m going to absolutely destroy him and dismantle him. It’s like a conflict with who I think I am and who I must be to win.
“I feel like I’m going through this transition where you go to this place where it’s dark. You’re prepared to go there, but to go there you have to mentally prepare yourself for any outcome.
“For me, it’s just about destroy and destruct. You’re getting in the way of my future, and you’re getting in the way of my kids — you think you can take that from me?
“You build this chip on your shoulder and then you’re fuelled by that all camp. You can’t be a nice person while you’re training.”
While respecting tricky southpaw Prograis, Benn’s overwhelming ambition is to challenge for Garcia’s WBC belt.
“The WBC world title in September sounds like a plan. I’m going to get a world title in September, no doubt,” Benn said.
“That’s the road and if I could do a third stadium show back-to-back and then win the world title, that will have been some two years back. Pretty phenomenal.”
‘Two years back’ is a reference to the time spent by Benn successfully arguing for a provisional two-year suspension to be lifted after twice testing positive for a banned substance in voluntary drug tests.
Benn has spoken openly about the depression and anxiety he suffered during the legal battle, as well as turning to alcohol to help numb the pain, with his Christian faith and therapy sessions proving instrumental to his recovery.
But he was still being stalked by his mental demons when he collided with Eubank Jr for the first time in April 2025, which ended in a unanimous points defeat in north London.
“I look back at the pictures and I don’t recognise myself. It wasn’t the fight night, it was the camp. It was the pressure, it was the stress, it was the anxiety,” he said.
“I was just coming through my case, so I was still battling depression, I was still battling anxiety. I was battling and I don’t throw them words around lightly.”
