Conor Benn is set to close out a productive 2021 campaign.

The second-generation boxer and rising welterweight faces his former titlist in Chris Algieri. Both boxers easily made weight ahead of their regional welterweight title fight, which takes place Saturday evening live on DAZN from M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.

Benn tipped the scales at a shredded 146 ½ pounds. Algieri—a former WBO junior welterweight titlist—weighed 146 pounds for just his second career fight outside the U.S.

The bout is the fourth in a span of just under 13 months for Benn (19-0, 12KOs), the ever-improving 25-year-old boxer whose father Nigel was a former two-division champion and an integral part of the 1990s U.K. boxing scene. The younger Benn is quickly carving out his own name in the pro ranks, particularly since the pandemic which has seen quality wins versus elevated oppositions.

In his most recent start, Benn turned away the challenge of veteran trialhorse Adrian Granados in claiming a ten-round, unanimous decision on September 4 in Leeds, England. The bout came with a five-week delay after Benn tested positive for Covid ahead of their previously scheduled July 31 clash.

Algieri (25-3, 9KOs) aims to upset the apple cart, while extending his current four-fight win streak. The 37-year-old former titlist from the Huntington section of Long Island, New York reached a career pinnacle following a June 2014 twelve-round, split decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov to win the WBO junior welterweight title. The reign came without a single title defense, with Algieri moving up to welterweight in a failed WBO welterweight title bid versus legendary Manny Pacquiao later that November.

The lone other losses on Algieri’s record came in a spirited twelve-round decision in favor of former junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan in May 2015 and a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Errol Spence, a rising prospect at the time of their April 2016 clash. The latter bout was met with a 2 ½ year ring absence before returning in November 2018, having since won four in a row. In his most recent start, Algieri ended a 26-month layoff with a ten-round shutout of former title challenger Mikkel LesPierre this past August at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.

The evening’s chief support pits Irish superstar and undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (19-0, 6KOs) against Kazakhstan’s Firuza Sharipova (14-1, 8KOs).

Taylor—a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist, two-time Olympian and two-division champion in the pro ranks—weighed 134.7 pounds for her fifth defense as undisputed champ. The bout is also the 12th overall defense of her WBA lightweight belt that she has held since October 2017. Sharipova weighed 134 ¼ pounds ahead of her first title challenge.

With a win on Saturday, Taylor—who also held the WBO junior welterweight title before returning to lightweight—will eye a blockbuster showdown with seven-division titlist Amanda Serrano (42-1-1, 31KOs) next spring. Serrano first reacclimates to the lightweight division in a December 18 clash with Spain’s Miriam Gutierrez (14-1, 5KOs), whose lone loss came in a failed title bid versus Taylor last November at Wembley’s SSE Arena.

Sharipova has won 14 in a row since suffering her lone defeat in her pro debut. It came versus Sofia Ochigava, an unbeaten prospect from Russia who is best known for her 2012 Olympic Silver medal run in London—having lost to Taylor in the lightweight finals.

Both bouts air live globally on DAZN, beginning 6:00 pm GMT/1:00 pm ET.

Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard.

Robbie Davies Jr. (21-3, KOs), Liverpool, 139.1 pounds vs. Hank Lundy (31-9-1, KOs), Philadelphia, 141 ¼ pounds*—10 rds, junior welterweight

* Lundy has two hours to get down to the 140-pound limit

Joe Cordina (13-0, KOs), Cardiff, 129.9 pounds vs. Miko Khatchatryan (13-0, KOs), Liege, Belgium, 129 ¾ pounds—10 rds, junior lightweight

Peter McGrail (1-0, 0KOs), Liverpool, 123 ¼ pounds vs. Engel Gomez (8-3-1, KOs), Chinandega, Nicaragua, 124 ¾ pounds— 6 rds, junior featherweight

Caoimhin Agyarko (9-0, KOs), Belfast, 159.3 pounds vs. Noe Larios Jr. (14-0, KOs), Ramona, California, 160 pounds—10 rds, middleweight

Jordan Gill (26-1, KOs), Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, 128 ¼ pounds vs. Alan Luques Castillo (27-11, KOs), Cordoba, Argentina, 127 pounds—8 rds, featherweight

Joe McGrail (debut), Liverpool, 121.9 pounds vs. Francisco Rodriguez (0-3, 0KOs), Spain, 117.7 pounds—4 rds, bantamweight

[BOTH FIGHTERS TO WEIGH IN LATER] Paddy Lacey (2-0, 0KOs), Liverpool vs. Vasif Mamedov (2-7-2, 0KOs), Perm, Russia— 4 rds, super middleweight

[BOTH FIGHTERS TO WEIGH IN LATER] Calum French (debut), Gateshead, Tyne and Wear vs. Rustem Fatkhullin, Ufa, Russia—4 rds, junior welterweight

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox