‘I’m a clean athlete’: Conor Benn maintains innocence despite ‘adverse’ drugs test result

Conor Benn insists he is a “clean athlete” despite returning an “adverse” finding from a Vada drugs test before his fight with Chris Eubank Jr this weekend.

“I wanted to say this personally, you guys have read what the Mail published about me, I wanted you to hear from me personally,” Benn told Matchroom. “I’ve not committed any violations, I’m not suspended, as far as I’m concerned, the fight is going ahead. I’ve spoken to Chris personally.

“We both want the fight to go ahead, we’ve taken medical and legal advice we want the fight to go ahead for the fans.

“Throughout my whole career I’m tested, I’ve never had any issues before. My team will find out why there’s been an adverse finding. The fight is still going ahead, I’m a clean athlete. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I’ll see you on Saturday.

“He fully believes in me, it’s not who I am, it’s not what I’m about. He was understanding. We both want the fight to go ahead. As far as I’m concerned it is going ahead.”

The highly-anticipated fight was thrown into doubt on Wednesday when confirmation arrived that Benn had returned an ‘adverse’ drug test result.

A joint-statement from promoters Matchroom Boxing and Wasserman confirmed Benn returned a result with ‘trace amounts of a fertility drug’.

Wasserman promoter Kalle Sauerland confirmed the substance was clomifene while also revealing that “a trace finding of a female fertility drug” was found in Benn’s result “at the end of August or start of September” during the Vada testing scheme as agreed during negotiations for the fight.

Sauerland also told Talksport: “It’s a non-performance enhancing drug, but it can raise testosterone.”

But despite the news – and the British Boxing Board of Control ‘prohibiting’ the fight – Eubank Jr “wishes to proceed” with Saturday’s catchweight main event at London’s O2 Arena.

Benn and Eubank Jr are set to face each other in a 157lbs catchweight contest, which will see the latter cut three pounds more than usual while Benn moves up two weight classes.

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Wasserman’s Kalle Sauerland, who represents Eubank Jr, told Talksport on Wednesday: “The instant reaction is, ‘The fight is off…’ [but] the fight on Saturday is on.

“You have to look into what it is; a banned substance is a banned substance, end of. The scenario around it… how it could come to that, why are the other tests not positive? There’s been a big mistake here.

“Has it been done as a PED [performance-enhancing drug]? No – that’s the medical opinions we have had.”

Benn and Eubank Jr’s fathers engaged in one of the most storied rivalries in British boxing history, with Chris Eubank stopping Benn in the ninth round of their first clash, in 1990, before they fought to a split draw in 1993 – almost 29 years to the day before this Saturday’s scheduled bout.