Before Conor Benn moved up in weight to face Chris Eubank Jr., in a catchweight battle at 157 lbs at the O2 Arena in London, England, that has all of the U.K.’s attention. Prior to that, Benn was rumored to face Jose Ramirez, but Ramirez simply made too much money for that.
“…it was a quick talk with Eddie Hearn. He said at the moment that Conor Benn wasn’t making what we thought he was making as far as financials,” said Ramirez to Pro Boxing Fans. "Eddie Hearn, with respect to the fact that … my minimums with Top Rank are so high ... he was shocked to find out how much I was making with my minimums with Top Rank.”
Ramirez, who has proven he is willing to fight on rival networks or rival promoters in the past, as Ramirez faced Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker in Hooker’s hometown on DAZN, on a card Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing handsomely paid Ramirez, who won the contest by way of knockout. The victory unified two of the four world titles at 140 lbs, setting the stage for his world title fight against Josh Taylor.
Hearn was keen on making a fight with Jose Ramirez, but it appears his mandatory minimums are so high it will be sometime before it is feasible to make a fight with himself and Benn.
“It’s a fight we probably make in the future, you know,” Ramirez said. “Conor Benn has made a name for himself now. You hear more and more about him now. He’s doing his own thing out there in the UK. It was just a quick talk that was presented to me. Once we got to the numbers, after the first talk and the numbers came in it just didn’t work out for either of us.”
