Keith Connolly, the manager guiding Conor Benn and Filip Hrgovic, addressed Eddie Hearn’s recent comments in an interview with iFL TV published May 14, pushing back on the Matchroom Boxing chairman after Benn’s departure for Zuffa Boxing triggered a public split between the two camps.
Hearn had said publicly that he would not work with Connolly again. Connolly’s reply, delivered to iFL TV, was measured but direct.
“I pay no mind to that,” Connolly said. “If we do business in the future, and it makes sense for both of us, we’ll do it. If not, that’s his prerogative, but it’s also my prerogative. I can choose to do business with who I want to do business with. And there’s plenty of people to do business with in boxing. Since this has all happened, I’ve done a couple major deals. Nothing’s going to stop me.”
Connolly Disputes Account of Rejected Fights
The manager rejected the framing that Benn had turned down opponents including Lewis Crocker, Josh Kelly, and Rolando “Rolly” Romero, telling iFL TV the offers tabled by Matchroom did not match market value.
“I think people twist words when they say that we never got an official offer for Josh Kelly,” Connolly said. “We were actively pursuing the Rolly Romero fight. I thought the offer that we got, the initial offer that we got, I thought was pathetic. And the offer that we got for Crocker, there were loose offers being thrown around. The money on that fight was a low ball offer, I think, to be polite.”
Connolly added that he believed no manager in the sport would have accepted the terms offered in place of the deal he ultimately secured with Zuffa.
“It’s a business, right? So, we had those offers. I went out and got the offer that I got. And there’s not one manager, there’s not one business person in boxing that would have taken the offers we were made and not taken the offer I got.”
Defending Benn
Connolly pushed back on suggestions that Benn had ducked opponents, pointing to the welterweight’s two-division jump to face Chris Eubank Jr. as recent evidence to the contrary.
“There’s been a lot of stuff said about Conor, a lot of stuff said about me that I find to be not the classiest way to handle something. And I don’t think a lot of the things that have been said are true as well,” Connolly said. “But as far as Conor Benn being scared to fight somebody, turning somebody down, give me a break. He jumped up two weight classes to fight Chris Eubank. Does anybody really think Conor Benn is scared to fight Lewis Crocker? Does anybody think Conor Benn is scared to fight Rolly Romero?”
On Hearn, Dana White, and the Wider Picture
While Zuffa Boxing was not named directly by Connolly, the company sits at the center of the dispute, having signed Benn out of the Matchroom stable. Asked about the rivalry between Hearn and Dana White, Connolly framed the friction as a positive for the sport.
“I think it’s great for the sport, right? Anytime you have beef between two of the biggest promoters in the sport, it brings eyeballs to the sport, it’s sort of like a reality show,” Connolly said. “You have to respect what Dana White’s done. He’s a great promoter. You got to respect what Eddie Hearn’s done. Great promoter, right?”
Connolly also indicated that the split with Hearn does not preclude future business between the two sides, noting that Hrgovic is scheduled to face Matchroom-promoted Dave Allen this weekend.
“I think if it suits him and it suits me, why wouldn’t we work together?” Connolly said. “We’re working together this weekend, right? My fighter is fighting Eddie Hearn’s fighter. There was a middleman in the negotiations, but we’re doing business this weekend, two days from now.”
Connolly also referenced active discussions for a potential Benn fight against Ryan Garcia as part of the slate of deals he has worked since the Matchroom split.
