Conor Benn Says Pacquiao Fight Can Happen Early Next Year

Conor Benn has revealed that he could fight boxing legend Manny Pacquiao early next year.

The British welterweight told Sky Sports that a December bout with the Filipino icon was offered to him.

But after the rigours of making weight for his September fight against Ryan Garcia — a fight he lost by second-round stoppage — Benn said he wasn't ready to box next month.

He hopes, however, to restart talks for a fight in the first quarter of 2027.

"He's an all-time legend," Benn told Sky Sports.

"He's an eight-division world champion, he's an all-time, he'll go down in the history books."

Benn added: "Another stadium show sounds nice."

The 28-year-old son of Nigel Benn has been rebuilding his career after a turbulent period outside the ring.

He was scheduled to face Chris Eubank Jr in 2022, but that fight was canceled after Benn tested positive for a banned substance.

UK Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of initially suspended him, but the National Anti-Doping Panel later lifted the suspension.

The World Boxing Council also cleared him of intentional doping, saying the substance was likely from contaminated eggs.

Since then, Benn has fought three times, winning twice before the Garcia loss.

Garcia, the WBC welterweight champion, stopped Benn inside two rounds in Las Vegas in September.

It was Benn's first world title challenge, and it ended abruptly.

"It's a hard pill to swallow," Benn acknowledged.

"To give 100 per cent in everything I do, I always want to be victorious. No one likes losing."

He added: "You always want to come first place. So for me it's just one of those things, you go swimming, you get wet."

Benn said he always wanted to be in exciting fights and that if he gets caught, he gets caught.

Garcia dropped him heavily, though Benn was back on his feet when the stoppage came.

He did not criticise the referee for ending the fight.

"It's hard to say," Benn said.

"I mean, listen I respect the referee and it's the referee's job to keep the fighter safe."

"Obviously me knowing my style and who I am, would I have liked to let the fight carry on, of course, but I'm not going to argue with the referee, he was there to do his job and he did his job."

"If he didn't think I was fit to continue that was his call on the night."

Now Benn is looking ahead to a potential matchup with one of the greatest fighters in history.

Pacquiao, 47, has not fought since July 2025, when he secured a draw with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

Before that, he had been out of the ring since August 2021, when he lost a WBA welterweight contest to Yordenis Ugás.

Pacquiao is a veteran of 73 fights with eight losses on his record.

He is a former eight-weight world champion who has found it hard to leave the sport behind.

He had been linked with a fight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury in December, but that has now been confirmed as not happening.

Other names have also been floated as potential Pacquiao opponents.

Former two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi recently accused Pacquiao of avoiding him.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Malignaggi said he would be up for the fight but that the Filipino has so far swerved the possibility.

"Pacquiao comes back and he's looking to fight anybody but me right now," Malignaggi said.

"This guy's 100 years old. He's looking to fight anybody but me. Now he's fighting a guy 20 pounds smaller than him just so he can fight."

"I put my name out there. I've been active. He doesn't even mention my name."

"He knows what I said about him, and he knows I'm right. They don't want that spewed out in that promotion, so they don't bring it up."

Malignaggi is set to take part in a bare-knuckle clash with former WBC welterweight world champion Victor Ortiz on December 5.

Joe Cordina, a two-time IBF super-featherweight world champion, has also expressed interest in fighting Pacquiao.

Cordina told Herald.Wales that a fight with Pacquiao would be "an honour."

But Benn has now emerged as the most concrete option.

He revealed that the Pacquiao fight was presented to him for December, but he couldn't accept it.

"I know the Pacquiao fight was offered to me for December," Benn said.

"And I wasn't ready to get the fight done in December."

"But if he wants it Q1 next year, we can do Pacquiao."

Benn explained that the timing was simply too tight.

"The fight got presented to me for December and it was just too soon, making weight, got a newborn son, so for me it was really about spending time with my family."

He left no doubt about his willingness to fight the legend.

"If Q1, he wants to get it on again, I'm interested."

"Always in the gym, always working, if he wants it Q1 next year, we can do it, no problem."

The ball is now in Pacquiao's court.

At 47, the Filipino senator has shown no signs of permanently retiring.