Conor Benn goes for his first world title this weekend but is he the British boxer most likely to become a first-time world champion?
Benn makes his world title debut vs. WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
After two epic encounters with Chris Eubank Jr last year, Benn has become one of the biggest names in British boxing, but others are also hoping to win a world title.
Here, ESPN ranks the British boxers most likely to win their first world title, including Benn, from strongest contender to longest shot.
Jack Catterall (33-2, 14 KOs)
Catterall has never been a world champion despite mixing it with some of the best at junior welterweight and welterweight for a few years now.
However, that could be about to change as the Chorley-based boxer already holds a secondary version of a world welterweight title and is in good form.
Many observers thought Catterall, 33, did enough to be crowned undisputed junior welterweight champion when he lost a points decision to Josh Taylor in 2022. When he got revenge over Taylor two years later, no titles were on the line and in February last year Arnold Barboza Jr.. beat him by a split decision for the WBO interim junior welterweight title.
But Catterall responded with three wins, including winning the WBA 'regular' welterweight title after dropping Shakhram Giyasov early on his way to an impressive unanimous points win in Cairo, Egypt, in May.
If WBA world welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez opts not to face Catterall next, the English boxer will be made full world champion. He tops this list for current form and his chances of being made full champion before he fights again.
Moses Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs)
Despite the 21-year-old's recent stoppage loss to Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF world heavyweight title, Itauma has shown enough potential to suggest that one day he will be own multiple world titles. Hrgovic absorbed some heavy shots before seizing his opportunity when Itauma punched himself out and stopped the exhausted Kent-based boxer in Round 9.
Itauma had been hoping to become the second youngest world heavyweight champion in history, but was carried from the ring on a stretcher. It was a chastening experience, but it's not career ending.
Itauma can still become one of the youngest world heavyweight champions, but he will likely have to wait until next year at the earliest for another title shot. His punching power, speed and footwork make him a thrilling watch and he had a big lead before he fell apart vs. Hrgovic in Round 8, and then stopped in the ninth.
His team might decide on a few fights to gain more experience before a title shot, but Itauma is still highly ranked and won't have to wait long for another title shot.
Adam Azim (15-0, 12 KOs)
Azim is ranked No. 4 with the IBF and No. 3 for English rival Dalton Smith's WBC junior welterweight title after registering his sixth successive stoppage win in May, as he closes in on a first world title shot.
Azim, 24, patiently dismantled Kurt Scooby before forcing a Round 12 stoppage in November, and then efficiently dealt with Steve Claggett in three rounds last time out. Claggett took Teofimo Lopez to points in a world title shot two years ago and Slough-based Azim's progression to world champion looks inevitable.
The Slough-based boxer has shown clinical finishing power but also patient, tactical boxing skills. It won't be long before he is in a world title fight.
Galal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs)
WBC interim flyweight champion Yafai, 33, has had a frustrating time recently after pulling out injured from a shot at unified champion Ricardo Sandoval, which was supposed to happen in June.
The Birmingham-based boxer has not boxed since losing a points decision to Francisco Rodriguez Jr in June 2025, before the result was changed to a no-contest after the Mexican tested positive for a banned substance.
Yafai, Olympic gold medallist in 2021, is a skilled boxer but this lay-off is a concern for his hopes of winning a world title. Both Yafai and American Sandoval, the WBC and WBA champion, have not fought for over a year now and we are waiting to see if a new date will be announced.
Apart from taking heavy shots vs. Rodriguez, Yafai has looked classy in the professional ranks and has the quality to beat all the current title holders.
Conor Benn (25-1, 14KOs)
Benn returns to welterweight for the first time since April 2022 when he challenges Ryan Garcia for his WBC belt in Las Vegas on Saturday.
A big factor vs. Garcia will be how well Benn has made the 140-pound limit, as his last five fights have been at middleweight or catchweight above welterweight.
Garcia's quick hands and boxing skills may also be a major problem for Benn. Benn recorded his best win vs. Chris Eubank Jr (UD) last November, but not much can be read into his unanimous decision 10-round victory over Regis Prograis, who retired immediately after the 150-pound catchweight fight in April.
If Benn, 29, fails on Saturday it will not be his last title shot due to his popularity, but welterweight and junior middleweight are two of the most competitive divisions currently, so becoming a world champion cannot be guaranteed for Benn.
Ben Whittaker (12-0-1, 9 KOs)
Whittaker, 29, steps up in class when he faces Northern Ireland-born, Australia-based Conor Wallace (17-1, 12 KOs) in an IBF world light heavyweight title eliminator in Birmingham on October 3.
The 2021 Olympic silver medallist will secure a shot at IBF, WBA and WBO world champion Dmitry Bivol, ranked No. 6 in ESPN's latest pound-for-pound rankings, should he overcome Wallace. It would then take a big upset to beat Bivol in 2027 and Whittaker might benefit from some more fights before a title shot.
After signing for Matchroom a year ago, Wolverhampton-based Whittaker made a swift US debut in a Round 2 stoppage win over Richard Rivera in June.
Whittaker has got the moves, the talk and the social media followers but 'The Surgeon' is operating in a treacherous division which includes the likes of Bivol, David Benavidez and Artur Beterbiev.
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Joshua Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs)
The Londoner has lost momentum recently and a unanimous points loss to English rival Callum Smith in February 2025 cost him a first world title shot.
Smith will challenge world No. 1 Dmitry Bivol in Russia later this year while Buatsi faces domestic rival Willy Hutchinson in a domestic rematch on Nov. 7.
2016 Olympic bronze medallist Buatsi won a split decision over Hutchinson for the WBO interim belt two years ago (although some observers thought he should have won by wider scores), and he only beat Zach Parker by majority decision last time out in November 2025.
The 33-year-old has not stopped an opponent for over five years now, has lacked intensity in his last three fights and needs a good performance vs. Hutchinson to add some urgency into his slow-moving nine-year professional career.
Should Buatsi win the rematch, he will progress to a shot at formidable WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, who is in scintillating form and one of the best boxers in the world.
Sam Noakes (19-1, 16 KOs)
Noakes, 29, won a convincing points decision over former WBO champion Berinchyk last month to move closer to title contention again.
Noakes, who American Abdullah Mason unanimously outpointed for the vacant WBO world lightweight title last November, wants a shot at William Zepeda's WBC belt and is highly ranked by the world governing body at No. 3.
He showed plenty of heart against Mason and he has since built on that experience. The Kent-based fighter is also ranked No. 3 with the WBO and if Shakur Stevenson vacates that belt to concentrate on junior welterweight, Noakes could get a shot at the vacant title.
Andrew Cain (15-1, 13 KOs)
Cain won a title eliminator for the WBC world bantamweight in February when he stopped Alejandro Gonzalaez in an impressive ninth-round finish to book himself a title shot.
The Liverpool-based boxer recovered from two knockdowns in another demonstration of his punching power.
Cain is ranked No. 2 with the WBC, No. 4 with the WBO and No. 6 with the IBF. He would likely have to travel to Japan for an opportunity to face WBC champion Takuma Inoue, which will not be an easy task. Inoue, brother of undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya, makes a second title defence vs. Tenshin Nasukawa on Sept. 27.
Josh Padley (19-1, 6 KOs)
Padley, 30, is on a good run since stepping in at late notice to fight Shakur Stevenson for the WBC world lightweight title in February 2025. Stevenson stopped Padley with body shots in Round 9 but the Sheffield-based boxer has since won four on the trot.
European junior lightweight Padley still has work to do to earn a world title shot but he showed in his last fight -- a hard-earned split decision win over Aqib Fiaz -- that he has plenty of desire.
Padley is ranked No. 7 with the WBA, whose title is held by Northern Ireland's Anthony Cacace. With Emanuel Navarrete and O'Shaquie Foster holding the other belts at 130 pounds, Padley is likely to target a WBA title shot.
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