But that will change Saturday night as 29-year-old Conor faces Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight crown at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

A key part of his team out in Sin City is his 62-year-old father Nigel, the two-weight world champion, who even stood in for Garcia when the champion decided not to turn up for the first face-off of fight week.

But more than that, the “Dark Destroyer’s” advice could be crucial given he has been there and done that, quite literally, following a remarkable 10-month spell in America across 1989 and 1990.

During that period, he put the first defeat of his career behind him, racked up five straight victories and headed back to the UK with his first world title belt. Now, more than three decades later, his son attempts to pack similar hardware on his own flight home.

Below, we take a look at the US run which reignited Benn Sr’s career.

After racing to 22-0 with 22 straight KOs, Benn was the overwhelming favorite to beat Michael Watson at a "supertent" erected in north London’s Finsbury Park in May 1989. However, when Benn was stopped in the sixth round by Watson, his manager Ambrose Mendy announced that his client would be moving to America to rebuild.

The first fight of that process came five months after his shock defeat and was notable for being the first distance bout of his career. Jorge Amparo was 7-9-1 before fighting Benn but was notoriously tough having gone the distance with the likes of Michael Nunn, Milton McCrory and Iran Barkley. By the end of the night, Benn was added to that list after he was largely neutralized by the Dominican. This was not the usual crash, bang, whallop provided by the Brit, who won a lopsided but tedious decision after 10.

On his arrival in America in 1989, Benn had linked up with trainer Vic Andretti at Miami’s fabled Fifth Street Gym. That alliance would claim its first inside-distance win on December 1 as Benn destroyed Jose Quinones inside a round at Hacienda Hotel, Las Vegas.

The Puerto Rican puncher, who had 20 KOs from 24 wins, was well known for stopping Doug DeWitt a few years earlier but he had no answer for a rampant Benn, who nearly knocked him through the ropes midway through the opening round. That was enough for referee Richard Steele to administer an eight-count, but it only prolonged the inevitable as Benn surged straight back towards Quinones, knocking him out with two right hooks.

After such an explosive victory in Vegas, Benn was forced to dig in and box his way to only the second points win of his career just 44 days later in New Jersey. If Benn had wanted to go a few rounds after ending the Quinones fight inside the first then crafty journeyman Sanderline Williams was certainly the opponent for that. The Cleveland man was better than his 24-9 record suggested and nobody ever had an easy fight against him.

In the end, Benn was forced to show every ounce of the boxing know-how honed under Andretti to box his way to a split decision victory. Judge John Riley scored it 96-94 in Williams’ favor but Frank Cairo (97-93) and Al DeVito (98-92) agreed Benn was the victor.

In April 1989, New York resident DeWitt had become the first ever WBO middleweight champion after beating Robbie Sims in New Jersey. Given how new it was at the time, the WBO was lightly-regarded in comparison to the WBA, WBC and IBF, although it is generally considered on a par with them these days. But that mattered little to Benn, who saw the burgundy belt as a legitimate world title and a path towards some major fights at 160 pounds.

As such, he would not let this opportunity at Caesars Hotel & Casino pass him by as he built up a lead on the cards and then closed the show in the eighth. A huge left hook at the start of the round put DeWitt over and he did well to rise from it at all. In stormed Benn, dropping his man for a second time. The Ohioan rose again but challenger Benn landed a right-hand left-hook combination to drop the champion for the third and final time, ending the fight on the three-knockdown rule.

Within four months of winning the belt, Benn would head back to Vegas for his first defense. The former WBC champion Iran Barkley, fit again after recovering from a torn retina in his left eye, was The Ring’s No. 5-ranked middleweight at the time despite back-to-back defeats to Roberto Duran and Nunn. What followed is considered one of the greatest one-round brawls in boxing history, as they both decided to stand and trade from the opening bell.

Barkley was dropped heavily by a left hook within 20 seconds but somehow regrouped and began to have some success of his own. “Barkley, Barkley” the Bally’s crowd chanted as he looked to be on the verge of a stoppage of his own before Benn soaked up everything he threw and dropped the challenger twice more, ending the fight once again via the three-knockdown rule. It would prove to be Benn's last fight on American soil.

Exactly three months later, Benn would return to the UK to face Chris Eubank in one of British boxing’s most anticipated grudge matches. But, as he had done against Watson, Benn came unstuck, losing in the ninth round of their clash in Birmingham. He would regroup from that defeat and move up to win the WBC super middleweight title by stopping Mauro Galvano in October 1992, remaining as champion for nearly four years.

During that run came a draw with WBO 168-pound champion Eubank in an Old Trafford rematch watched by 15 million people in the UK. He would eventually close out his career in 1996, with back-to-back defeats to Steve Collins. The first of those came on July 6 with the second coming on November 9.

In between those fights, on September 4, Nigel would marry his heavily pregnant partner Caroline Jackson. Then, on September 28, the couple welcomed the arrival of a baby son into the world.

They decided to name him Conor.