Golovkin vs Brook: Conor Benn, Ohara Davies and Craig Richards are a gang on the rise
Thursday 8 September 2016 18:15, UK
A trio of young, unbeaten London-based fighters are chasing the same goals. Isaac Robinson finds out how the group of close friends are driving each other upwards...
Football famously saw Manchester United's famous 'Class of '92' graduate to the first team and dominate the Premier League, so is British boxing in the process of producing a comparable tale starring Conor Benn, Ohara Davies and Craig Richards?
It's an ambitious comparison to draw, no doubt, but the style in which the youngsters are climbing rankings and metaphorical ladders towards major titles suggests this group may one day hold the boxing world in their gloved hands.
What's it like to be a member of this wolfpack? We asked the wolves themselves, and no two seem the same...
Conor Benn
"It's all about the team you've got around you and who you surround yourself with. All of us have the same goal and ambition and we're heading in one direction and that's up.
"It's just not in me to talk like Ohara. If I don't like you, you will know about it. At the minute I'm just fighting but when someone wants to have it, I'll have it back with them when it's personal. Ohara loves it and each to their own.
"I sparred Ohara a week ago and we were supposed to do eight rounds but I got beaten up so bad that Tony Sims took it down to five. It's learning and I'll come back another week and give him a hiding. It's the way it works."
Ohara Davies
"All these other boxers like Conor Benn, Craig Richards and Anthony Yarde, they all motivate me to push even further. As soon as I see them achieving success I think: 'Yeah. All of us are friends and a good team so let's all get there together.' We're in the gym and pushing each other even if we're with a different coach. We meet up.
"At the end of the day, boxing is an individual sport and if I fall off, they're not going to wait for me and if they fall off, I'm not going to wait for them. We're all focused on ourselves and you have to be selfish in this business. I see it as a team but I bear in mind that it's an individual sport."
Craig Richards
"There are a lot of my friends who are very talented and we all have a good vision of where we want to go. We're all working very hard so it's good keeping in contact and talking. It keeps you motivated and the ambition that bit more.
"It's nothing personal. We don't focus on fighters - we focus on titles, so if you've got the title, you're a possible target. If you've got something we need then we've got to go and take it and that's about it."
Benn and Davies' fledgling careers are overseen by former reality TV star Charlie Sims - son of their trainer Tony Sims, and Sky Sports caught up with boxing's newest high-flying manager to discuss his young charges.
Sims said: "The reason I spend a lot of time with them is to build a good relationship with them. Before I was their manager, I was their friend so they know I have their best interests at heart. It's good to socialise with my clients as well as being professional but there's also a line we have to draw. I know they trust me and I respect them.
"The last few years, I've calmed down a lot and taken work seriously. This industry isn't easy and you have to be on top of your game. If they're going home then nine times out of 10, I'm going home… but if we're celebrating, we're celebrating.
"This generation coming through have been named as great prospects. It's great for British boxing that we're going to keep driving it here.
"It's great they are all friends and can talk about it because boxing is not just physically demanding - it's also emotionally demanding and it's great for them they can all relate to it. I get to go on the journey of watching them go from the first fights all the way to hopefully getting to the top."
Watch Conor Benn in action on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin v Kell Brook, live on Sky Sports Box Office from The O2, on September 10. Book the event via your Sky remote or online here.
