Conor Benn has been linked to a who’s who of the welterweight division since evening the score with bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr.

Ten days ago, 60,000 fans flocked to London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to see Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) outpoint a flat Eubank Jr over 12 rounds in their middleweight rematch.

The 29-year-old Londoner has been insistent that he will now draw a line under his time at 160 pounds and make a concentrated assault on the welterweight division.

Last weekend, Benn was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to see Devin Haney relieve Brian Norman Jr of his WBO 147-pound title on the excellent Ring IV show. WBC titleholder Mario Barrios, IBF champion, Lewis Crocker and Ryan Garcia have also been named as potential opponents.

You can add the name of The Ring's No. 1-ranked lightweight and WBC champion, Shakur Stevenson, to that list.

The three-weight world champion is rumoured to be closing in on an early 2026 showdown with The Ring and WBO junior welterweight beltholder Teofimo Lopez, but is clearly planning a busy year. Benn told The Ring that Stevenson gave the thumbs up to a direct approach about a future fight.

“I messaged Shakur. I said, "Listen, if you're really about it, let's do it next". I don't just do the social media thing for bants," Benn said.

"I said we can do that next in April and he said, 'Cool. Let me get Teo out the way, we'll do it in April," so you may see be seeing me and Shakur next.”

Beating the mercurial Lopez at his natural weight would be a remarkable achievement for Stevenson. Stepping up a further seven pounds to fight Benn just a couple months later seems extremely unlikely but the groundwork for a potential fight in the future has definitely been laid.

Benn believes that Stevenson needs to concentrate on the task at hand before looking too far ahead.

“I think he’s in a hard fight, Teo's a great fighter. I think it'll be a close, 50/50 fight.”