Conor Benn vs Cedrick Peynard was one of the most entertaining boxing bouts of the year.
Unfortunately, the main talking point from Conor Benn’s stunning comeback from two first-round knockdowns was the shocking scoring of the fight.
It was a nightmare start to the undefeated Benn against the journeyman Frenchman on the undercard of Katie Taylor vs Jessica McCaskill. After dropping a 10-7 first round, Benn lost the second and suddenly found his pristine record in jeopardy trailing his opponent by three points after two rounds.
https://twitter.com/SixHeadz/status/941045412844244992
The third round was much more competitive, but in order to salvage the fight, it was thought that Benn would need a couple of knockdowns, if not a finish heading into the home stretch. He fought back brilliantly to score two knockdowns in the final two rounds which, depending on how you scored that third round, would have left a single point, at most, between them.
However, after the fight was over, the fight was scored 57-54 in favour of Benn. The unusually wide margin soured one of the best fights of 2017. Benn vowed to perform better in his next outing, speaking to Sky Sports after the fact.
“Massive learning experience. I’ll come back from it and learn from it.”
“The only thing I showed in that fight is – I have heart. I’ll learn from this, I’m only 20-years-old.
“I think I dealt with it alright. You cannot test heart, you’ve either got it, or you’ve not.”
The result saw Benn improve his professional record to 11-0, but after the fight, all anyone could talk about was that dodgy scoring.
Conor Benn wins 57-54 on points against Cedrick Peynaud after six rounds. A sensational fight ruined by a ridiculous scorecard. #Boxing
— Sheldan Keay (@SheldanKeay) December 13, 2017
How is Peynaud losing that 57-54? Incredible fight. Conor Benn. Total entertainment but massive improvement required. #rematch #TaylorMcCaskill
— Hawkeye Sidekick (@hawkeyesidekick) December 13, 2017
Anybody going to question #conorbenn winning that then?… #boxing
— Fight & Talk (@_fightandtalk) December 13, 2017
How the fuck has Conor Benn won that by 3 points. That's a joke. @TonyBellew stop changing your mind you mouth. @MatchroomBoxing unbelievable fight but sort them judges out. A joke.
— Barry Dempsey (@barrydempsey2) December 13, 2017
Conor Benn did not win that fight!! Great fight but he didn't win for me. Very lucky with that scorecard
— Robbie T (@RobbieMT8) December 13, 2017
