CONOR BENN is burying his family pain to focus on his fight with Samuel Vargas tonight.
The welterweight, 24, and wife Victoria welcomed baby Eli on January 24.
But coronavirus travel regulations mean his dad, legendary fighter Nigel based in Australia, and the rest of his family are yet to meet the new arrival.
The 17-0 ace has put on a brave face as he prepares for his step-up against the respected Colombian.
But Essex-based fighter Benn is just desperate to reunite his family.
He told SunSport: “Eli coming at this stage of my life is such an amazing blessing — but the hardest part is that my dad and all my family in Australia cannot be here.
“The Zoom calls are lovely and I know everyone looks forward to them but they are also upsetting.
“With every call we are telling dad about the latest new thing the baby has done and, although I can see and hear how proud he is, I can tell not seeing it in person is hurting him.
“But this is just another form of sacrifice I am having to put myself through to achieve my goals.
“It was hard enough leaving everyone behind as a teenage boy to come over here.
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“Now I have my own beautiful young family and I am unable to have everyone together.
“It’s hard to even schedule a video call with my family because, even if we get around the time difference, the baby might have had a rough night so is sleeping.
“We just have to focus on all the positives and there are plenty, I know a lot of people are far worse off.”
Nigel retired Down Under to dedicate his life to God and passed his faith, as well as his power, down to Conor.
Conor got his son’s name from the Bible, his own name was more wacky.
He said: “Eli is a man of the Bible and I am a strong believer in biblical names, which makes the fact that my name came from the Terminator film even funnier.
“It’s an odd name, there isn’t any rhyme or reason for it. Dad just liked the name from the film.
“Eli is a short and powerful name, a man of the bible, a man of faith and that is how I plan on raising my son.”
Nigel did everything he could to ward his son away from boxing, unsuccessfully.
Conor, though, insisted his boy will not follow in the family footsteps.
He said: “I won’t raise him that way. The world is so much bigger than boxing, there is more to life than fighting.
“You can get so caught up in the aggression of the sport that you forget to enjoy anything else.
“You always have to have that fighting mentality. I don’t want my son to be a fighter — and don’t think he will be.”
Conor has done back-to-back fight camps after beating Sebastian Formella in November.
Victoria had to handle the last stages of pregnancy and Eli’s first months almost single-handed while her husband trained.
But there will be no expense spared after tonight’s fight.
Benn added: “My wife has been more than incredible. She has effectively been a single mum.
“I will do everything I can to make it up to her. Whatever she chooses she more than deserves.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
