CONOR Benn and Chris Eubank Jr will square off this evening in a legacy showdown, as it has been billed, that was supposed to happen in 2022.
Now taking centre stage at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, in front of around 65,000 fans, the magnitude of their fight, it is fair to say, has only grown exponentially.
But before being revisited over 30 months later, the originally scheduled event – set for a more modest O2 Arena – was scuppered at the 11th hour.
The reason for its collapse, it later became known, was because of two failed Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) tests returned by Benn, 23-0 (14 KOs).
Both VADA tests – with the first conducted over two months before his planned outing and the second, around a month later – determined that clomifene, a banned substance, was found within his system.
At first, the WBC – a sanctioning body with no reasonable authority over the situation – attempted to clear the 28-year-old with claims of a ‘highly elevated consumption of eggs’ in 2023.
Unsatisfied with the WBC’s position, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) extended Benn’s provisional ban which, later that year, was then lifted by the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP).
And despite an appeal from UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), in conjunction with the BBBofC, the NADP’s ruling was ultimately upheld, allowing Benn to finally settle his score with Eubank, 34-3 (25 KOs).
But still, an explanation for why ‘The Destroyer’ was twice found with a performance-enhancing substance in his system by VADA – widely regarded as the gold standard when it comes to drug testing – is yet to emerge.
Like the rest of us, Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn, who promotes Benn, remains unsure as to whether that information will ever come to light.
“It depends on what UKAD decide to do with it,” Hearn told Boxing News.
“[Benn’s] done three independent hearings [with the NADP] now, and he’s won every single one of them.
“Everyone said to him, ‘go before UKAD’ – he won. Everyone said to him, ‘go before the NADP’ – he won.
“He was completely exonerated, and if people can’t accept that, then what is the point in going through a process and having your name cleared?
“We’ll see what the future holds, but we want to get on with it. Everyone’s been talking about it for three years, so let’s take that anger into [the ring] and smash this geezer [Eubank] to pieces.”
Watch Eubank Jr vs Benn on Saturday 26th April live on DAZN, the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights per year.
