Conor Benn admitted to failing tests in July and September before his match against Chris Eubank Jr in October was cancelled; the outcome of the investigation by the WBC's Clean Boxing Programme into the the situation is expected to be announced this month
Tuesday 13 December 2022 14:39, UK
Conor Benn has reiterated his innocence over two failed drug tests in a social media post as the WBC’s Clean Boxing Programme reaches the latter stages of its investigation into the situation.
Benn admitted to failing the tests - in July and September - before his bout with Chris Eubank Jr, scheduled for October, was dramatically cancelled.
The 26-year-old and his team believe contamination was behind the positive tests, and posting on his Instagram account for the first time since October 6 he vowed: "The truth will soon come out".
"My team and I have worked extremely hard over the past seven years to make me the fighter I am today, we have never cut corners or cheated the grind in any way," Benn wrote.
"It's been really hard for me to accept that people think that I would do what I was accused of, but what I've come to realise is people rush to judgement, without knowing the facts especially people in the boxing community (and, most disappointingly, even those that know me).
"Boxing is my life. I've been through hardships in my career before but nothing like this, I believe in life you go through adversity of all kinds and what matters most is how you respond.
"My team have proven my innocence and the truth will soon come out. Until then, I won't be commenting further due to confidentiality."
Eubank Jnr reacted to Benn's statement on Tuesday with three snoring emojis on Twitter.
Benn revealed trace amounts of the female fertility drug clomifene were found in his urine from Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) tests given on July 25 and September 1.
He relinquished his British boxing licence in October after a hearing upheld "allegations of misconduct". He was also removed from the fifth place he held in the WBC's welterweight rankings.
The sanctioning body's Clean Boxing Programme subsequently opened an investigation, with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirming an outcome is expected this month.
"The Clean Boxing Programme is running an investigation, and we expect by (the end of) December hopefully we will have a final ruling," Sulaiman said last week.
"We have received good collaboration from Benn and the team. We're getting all the documentation and then we'll soon have a meeting with him and come up with a ruling.
"They have been cooperative and everything seems to be in line for a good result at the end of this month."
Sulaiman added he did not want to speculate on a likely outcome for Benn's case, but pointed to the WBC protocols, which have bans ranging from six months to three years as possible punishments for violations.
"I don't like to speculate," Sulaiman said. "It would be irresponsible of me to say something that could be interpreted wrong.
"We're doing the investigation, the protocols are public on the WBC website, where the scenarios are outlined."
