A STEP UP FOR CONOR BENN AGAINST LASZLO TOTH

Conor Benn (15-0) returns to the O2 Arena on Saturday night, defending his WBA Continental welterweight title against Laszlo Toth (28-5-1). This is the third fight of the year for the British fighter and his first since a dominant 2nd round KO of Jussi Kolvula (24-7-1) at the York Hall back in June.

Kolvula was a proposed step up in class for Benn, and he looked to possess an initial awkwardness which would trouble, spoil and result in an exacting night’s work. A Benn left hook following a shootout of hands knocked Kolvula down with 1 minute 45 seconds of the round remaining, and a firm straight-right followed by a relatively tamer left hook as he was falling, terminally ended the fight. Saturday’s opponent, Laszlo Toth is expected to provide a sterner, further step-up in class.

31-years-old and with a record of 28-5-1, Laszlo Toth has held the WBF and WBA International, WBA Continental, and UBO and IBF Intercontinental titles, as well as being the Hungarian welterweight champion. He has been the distance, albeit in valiant defeat, with Vyacheslav Senchenko (37-2) and Kerman Lejarraga (28-2), and against prospects Flavius Blea (16-1), Kudratillo Adbukakhorov (17-0) and Eduard Skavynskyl (11-0).

Whilst a KO victory is the desire of the enthusiastic Benn, achieving it on Saturday night will be more of a statement than an expectation. Toth has never been stopped and he carries power himself, winning 19 of his 28 victories within the scheduled distance. But Benn needs to win fights of this calibre in commendable fashion to extend himself within this competitive division; and, should he prevail, he will likely earn a fight against domestic rival Johnny Garton (23-2-1) next.