LONDON — Conor Benn has reaffirmed his desire to drop back down to welterweight for the first time in more than three years - and says winning the WBC belt held by Mario Barrios weighs 'heavy on his heart'.

Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) marked his second, and what he insists is his final, fight as a 160-pound middleweight by dropping Chris Eubank Jr twice en route to a lopsided points win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night.

Benn weighed a career-high 159 ¼ pounds for the clash, which came nearly seven months on from their initial fight, which he lost via unanimous decision at the same north London venue.

The victory sets the 29-year-old up for a huge 2026 and, when asked at what weight he now plans to campaign at, Benn said he has already set his sights on welterweight.

He said at the post-fight press conference: “I think for me winning the WBC welterweight title is heavy on my heart and heavy on my mind. It’s the belt my dad won, it’s the belt I would love to win. It’s my dream."

The WBC title is currently held by Barrios, who has drawn his last two fights but is now reportedly closing in on a defence against Ryan Garcia in the early part of 2026.

Benn added: “For me to be 1-0 up on my dad, by winning against a Eubank, and also by winning the WBC title, that would be some moment for me.”

Before these fights with Eubank, Benn’s previous two outings had taken place at junior middleweight, where he beat both Peter Dobson and Rodolfo Orozco. You have to go back to April 2022 for the last time he boxed inside the 147-pound welterweight limit, a second round stoppage of Chris van Heerden in Manchester before the idea of fighting Eubank had ever even been mooted.

He added: “Making 147 again is going to be hard of course. I haven’t made 147 for a long time. I made 152 a couple of years ago but I’ve not had to make 147, championship weight, for a while. It will be challenging but ultimately that’s what we do.”

His victory over Eubank tied their series at 1-1 so there were naturally questions regarding a potential rubber match. Benn closed them down instantly.

“No,” he said. “Because I don’t know how long I can make 147 for. Money always talks doesn’t it but for me, for my personal reasons, how much money do you need? For me, let me get that world title and for me that will be a box ticked.”

On Eubank he added: “I can see him asking for a rematch but ultimately I feel we should just let it lie now. We’ve done what we had to do, we sold out the stadium twice. Let’s just call it a day now - and the only fight that matters is the last fight anyway.”

Eubank (35-4, 25 KOs) had looked a shell of his former self throughout the fight and did well to reach the final bell after being dropped twice in the last round. He had hinted at problems during training camp, insisting he had been ‘to Hell and back’ in order to make the fight at all, although he was not willing to reveal what he meant.

Given the 36-year-old’s performance, which resulted in the fourth defeat of his 14-year career, Benn was asked whether he thinks Eubank should now retire. Although he refused to say either way, dad-of-two Benn did advise Eubank to consider the twin boys he and his partner are set to welcome next year.

Benn said: “He’s got more important things to worry about.

“He has won at life with getting his twin boys. So if I was him I would look at boxing and see what reasons he’s boxing for. He’s a dad of two now so that’s always a priority.

“It’s not down to me to say whether he should retire or not it’s up to him. But he’s got bigger things in life happening right now.”