LONDON, England - Conor Benn will box as a middleweight for the second time in seven months this November but then, he insists, a shot at WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios will be his primary focus once again.

The 28-year-old from Essex suffered the first defeat of his career on April 26 when he dropped a unanimous decision to arch rival Chris Eubank Jr. in their long-awaited grudge match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He will get the chance at immediate redemption on November 15 when he faces the Brighton man, six years’ his senior, at the same football ground. Given his dad Nigel lost once and drew once with Chris Eubank Sr, it will likely be the Benn’s final chance to inflict defeat upon their rival family.

The younger man gave away three and a half pounds to a severely weight-drained Eubank in their first fight and will be the smaller of the two again when they meet for the second time. But once he has attended to this particular piece of business, Benn is planning to box as a welterweight for the first time since his April 2022 victory over Chris van Heerden.

“There’s not a long-term career for me in this weight class,” Benn told The Ring in a suite at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Wednesday night.

“I’m definitely not a middleweight and I’ll be dropping straight down. We are just over eight weeks away from fight night and I’m currently under the middleweight limit right now. I’m weighing about 156 pounds at the moment.

“I’ve only gone up so I could get the chance to smash up Eubank but my business will be at welterweight after that.”

The newly minted IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker, who stunned Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park to claim the vacant title at the weekend, has been suggested as a potential opponent for Benn by his promoter Eddie Hearn.

But ‘The Destroyer’ (23-1, 14 KOs) says it is still Barrios who he wants next given The Ring’s No. 8-rated welterweight holds the same green and gold belt that his dad did at super middleweight.

Following his defeat to Eubank Sr in November 1990, Benn Sr rebuilt with six successive wins in 10-round contests before he got the chance to face WBC super-middleweight champion Mauro Galvano in Marino, Italy on October 3, 1992.

Benn won the belt that night when Galvano was forced to retire in the third round due to a severe cut and he would go on to successfully defend his title nine times across a three and a half year period.

Now Conor wants to follow in his father’s footsteps by having a WBC title reign of his own.

“Crocker ain’t the target,” he added. “Barrios is.

“His belt has got my name on it. The WBC world title is the belt I want. I will go over to America and beat the champion and bring that belt back with me.

“I’m not overly concerned about Crocker. He’s got a title but that WBC title is the one that means most to me. I’ve got it hanging up in my gym already because it was the one my dad won.

“That belt means everything to me so now I want my own one to add to our family collection."