While Stevenson welcomes what would undoubtedly be a big fight against Conor Benn, he won’t consider moving up to the welterweight division to box Benn unless the British star agrees to rehydration clauses in their contracts. Stevenson made his 140-pound debut against Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night and wouldn’t want Benn to have too much of a weight advantage if they fought.

Benn insists he is a welterweight, though he hasn’t made the division’s limit of 147 pounds since April 2022.

His two fights with family rival Chris Eubank Jr. were contested at the middleweight maximum of 160 pounds last year. The naturally bigger Eubank adhered to rehydration restrictions for both bouts that prohibited him from weighing more than 170 pounds at second-day weigh-ins.

Stevenson, 28, didn’t specify how much weight Benn, 29, would be allowed to add before second-day weight checks. He was nonetheless adamant about restricting Benn’s weight when he was told during his post-fight press conference that Benn doesn’t want a rehydration clause.

“If he’s not gonna agree, then we probably don’t fight,” Stevenson said following his dominant points victory over Lopez. “So, he’s just wasting time. But we’ll see. I’m a businessman at the end of the day and, like I said, he did a rehydration clause with Chris Eubank. Chris Eubank was in the ring half dead. Why can’t he do the same thing?”

Benn and Stevenson faced off in the ring following the four-weight world champion’s impressive performance against Lopez, the most accomplished, talented opponent of his career.

The cerebral, highly skilled Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) won The Ring and WBO junior welterweight titles from Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs) thanks largely to the masterful use of his jab, controlling distance and preventing the former unified lightweight champion from landing many impactful punches. Judges Max De Luca, Eric Marlinski and Steve Weisfeld scored 11 rounds apiece for Stevenson, who won 119-109 on each of their cards.

They also sold out Madison Square Garden. The announced attendance of 21,324 represented the largest crowd for boxing since “The Mecca of Boxing” was reopened at its current Manhattan location in February 1968.

A Stevenson-Benn bout could draw a crowd more than three times that size in London, where Benn and Eubank twice packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for 12-round fights Eubank won April 26 and Benn won November 15, both by unanimous decision. Wembley Stadium in London could accommodate a crowd of approximately 100,000 for boxing, 30,000-plus more than the newer Tottenham Hotspur.

Stevenson was noncommittal, however, about battling Benn in his home country.

“I don’t ever negotiate against myself,” Stevenson said, “so we’ll see what happens at the negotiation table and I’ll let my management team handle that.”

Josh Dubin, Stevenson’s co-manager along with James Prince, explained their position on the Benn bout.

“If the money is right,” Dubin said. “If the money is right and, I mean, the rehydration clause tells you everything you need to know. [Benn is] just in there bullsh***ing and trying to get a headline on [Stevenson’s] big night. I thought the whole thing was the same kinda clown nonsense that Teofimo did all week. But listen, if the money’s right and His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and Rick [Reeno] and everybody at The Ring – look, the one thing about Shakur is since he’s 19 years old, he’s been asking for the best fighters in the world.

“Teofimo was just the first one to say yes. So, he’ll fight anyone. But it’s gotta, you know, it’s gotta make sense. Not just financially, but he’s not gonna put himself at unnecessary risk. But yeah, to fight at Wembley Stadium, what does it hold? He just sold out [Madison Square Garden]. You heard the crowd tonight. I think we should give him his respect for selling out Madison Square Garden tonight and let’s relish this first.”