Conor Benn has failed a drugs test just days before his highly anticipated bout with Chris Eubank Jr. The Daily Mail has revealed that the fighter has been informed his results identified a banned substance, clomifene, in his sample.
The substance, which is usually used to treat infertility in women, can increase testosterone in men and is forbidden by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It is understood Benn's test was carried out by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
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In the wake of the news, Matchroom Boxing's managing director Eddie Hearn released a statement saying the fight is still set to go ahead. It read: "The B sample is yet to be tested, meaning that no rule violation has been confirmed. Indeed, Mr Benn has not been charged with any rule violation, he is not suspended, and he remains free to fight.
"Mr Benn has since passed a doping control test conducted by the UK Anti-Doping Agency.
"Both fighters have taken medical and legal advice, are aware of all the relevant information, and wish to proceed with the bout on Saturday."
It was only in January when Benn, a welterweight on a meteoric rise, with a perfect 21-0 record, was briefly removed from the WBC world rankings for failing to enrol in their clean-athlete programme.
He released a statement at that time saying: 'The World Boxing Council (WBC) have temporarily removed me from their January rankings and have requested in order for me to continue being ranked under the WBC governing body I must officially enrol in the WBC Clean Boxing Program supported by VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association).
“I can confirm I have instructed my team who are now in the process of enrolling me. I wanted to address this personally for the boxing community and my fans.
"It's important to me as a professional athlete to enrol in a clean testing programme and play my part in keeping our sport safe along with having my name stated in top five positions across all governing bodies.”
Benn is currently ranked fifth with the WBC and in the top five with the other three major sanctioning bodies.
The 26-year-old Benn moved up almost two weight classes for Saturday's fight against his bigger rival Eubank Jr. Eubank has never scaled lower than middleweight, while Benn usually fights at 147lb. Saturday's fight was made at a catchweight of 157lbs
