The scores were 98-92, 98-92, and 98-92.
Benn came forward for most of the fight, but the performance was harder work than expected against a 37-year-old opponent who was fighting above his usual weight. He relied on pressure and volume, yet much of it was picked up on gloves or smothered, and he struggled to land clean, telling shots despite being the bigger man at the weight. Two cuts opened over Benn’s eyes from head clashes, adding to a messy rhythm that never quite settled.
Prograis, the former two-time 140 lb champion, had moments early when he timed Benn coming in and landed counters, particularly when he stood his ground and forced exchanges. His movement dipped as the rounds went on, and there were signs he was compromised physically, but he continued to find pockets to land and remained competitive in stretches even while giving up size.
As the fight wore on, Benn kept pushing the pace, but he wasn’t able to break Prograis down or force a decisive shift. Even in the later rounds, when the tempo should have separated them, the difference came more from activity than from clean, damaging work. Benn closed the fight on the front foot, though without the kind of impact that would have removed any doubt.
The decision went his way on the cards, but the performance left questions. Against an older opponent dealing with physical limitations, Benn labored and could not impose himself in a way expected of a fighter looking toward the top names at 147. On this showing, he did not resemble the level set by the leading fighters in that weight class or even some of the stronger names a division below.
