Breaking News: Benn vs. Eubank Jr in Limbo After Benn Fails Drug Test

According to various sources, Saturday’s fight between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr is in jeopardy and will likely be cancelled because of an adverse finding by VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency. The test conducted by VADA reportedly found traces of clomifene in Conor Benn’s test. One of many banned substances, clomifene is used to treat infertility in women but can also increase the level of natural testosterone in men and thereby enhance muscle mass and strength.

The official statement issued today (Wednesday, Oct. 5) by the governing body of British boxing, the British Boxing Board of Control reads as follows:

“On the evening of 4^th October 2022, the Board…resolved that the contest between Chris Eubank Jnr. And Conor Benn scheduled to take place on 8^th October 2022 is prohibited as it is not in the interests of Boxing. That was communicated to the boxers and Promoters involved on the morning of 5^th October 2022.”

Lead promoter Eddie Hearn (pictured standing behind Benn) and Hearn’s collaborators in Saturday’s event, Wasserman Boxing and Sauerland, have issued statements suggesting that the match at London’s O2 Arena — reportedly an advance sellout — could still go forward.

Conor Benn, notes Hearn, passed all the tests conducted by the U.K. Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD), the agency that has a formal contract with the BBBofC. By Hearn’s reckoning, that precludes the Board of Control from suspending Benn. The statement by Wasserman says that Benn’s opponent Chris Eubank Jr is keen on the fight happening. The matter is in the hands of the lawyers, but there is little precedent for a licensed promoter contravening a ruling by the Board of Control.

Benn vs. Eubank was to be contested at the catch-weight of 157 pounds. That theoretically worked a greater hardship on Conor Benn who has been a welterweight his entire 21-bout pro career and has never tipped the scale above 148 ½ pounds.

VADA was founded by Dr. Margaret Goodman, a Las Vegas neurologist and former ringside physician. For her efforts on behalf of boxing, Dr. Goodman was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category. She entered the Hall with the class of 2021.

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