British welterweight/super welterweight contender Conor Benn has been under a provisional suspension by the British Boxing Board of Control and UK Anti-Doping for over half a year but will face a crucial hearing with the British Board next month to decide whether the suspension will be lifted or not, as Sky Sports reported recently. In the meantime, Benn continues to maintain his innocence as he prepares for one of the most important moments of his career; which can see him face a lengthy ban depending on the outcome with the British Board.

Since October of 2022, Conor Benn’s (23-0, 14 KO’s) career had been in a relative state of limbo given the drug tests where he tested positive for Clomifene (or Clomiphene) on two occasions prior to a fight with British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KO’s).

While Conor Benn somehow managed to overturn a suspension by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) and UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) through the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP)―an independent tribunal―last year, this was quickly rectified by the two aforementioned organizations during a hearing in February which culminated in the provisional suspension of last year being reinstated this year.

This October, however, there might finally be a conclusion to the turbulent fallout of Benn’s failed drug tests after Sky Sports revealed there would be a hearing with the BBBofC. According to Sky Sports, a date for this hearing has been set for next month which will see Benn able to either resume his career as a professional, or alternatively be slammed with a ban.

In the scenario a ban might occur―which given the history of British fighters that were banned for performance-enhancing drug (PED) use would dictate he’d face a two-year ban at the very least, it is possible that he would not be out for long. As doping bans often begin from the date of the violation or the athlete’s provisional suspension, given Benn’s drug tests dated back to October of 2022, any potential ban could be retroactively applied from that date.

Alternatively, the ban could apply from when he was provisionally suspended, which during the first suspension period lasted for approximately 4 months based on the fact it was imposed in March of 2023 and ended in July. The second suspension was imposed in either February or March, and given the hearing is set to occur in October this would mean he would have been suspended for roughly 8 months. This would make it around one year under which Benn served under a provisional suspension, and could be out for another year if he were to be banned for two years.

There is also the possibility he could face a four-year ban in the UK, though these occurrences are considerably rarer than the more regular two-year bans and only appear to occur when the athlete’s intent to cheat is proven, or if more serious cases occur involving anabolic steroids. As Clomifene is registered by the World-Anti Doping Association (WADA) as a Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM), he would only face a four-year ban if it was proven during the upcoming hearing he had intentionally taken Clomifene.

Two-years bans are usually imposed on British athletes when it can not be proven that they used banned substances intentionally. In the rare case an athlete is able to prove their innocence―usually depicted under the terms of an athlete having “proven no fault or negligence”, they face no ban and are able to continue their career as normal.

In his latest televised appearance this week, Conor Benn again continued to maintain his innocence as he Sky Sports confronted him during a brief interview:

“Listen, I ain’t perfect. I’m far from perfect. I ain’t no saint, [but] one thing I’m not is this [a PED-user], ” Benn told Sky Sports. “That’s one thing I would never be. Fight for what you believe in, irrelevant of what anybody [else] says. What sits right with you? What sits right in my heart?

“You think I want to spend a 100.000 [sterling pounds]―touching a [million]? You think I want to spend that [on proving my innocence]? You think I got the means to spend that? If I done it [used PED’s intentionally], now listen, you [I] got to be a real idiot to do that. I ain’t that guy. Never will be that guy. I’m a fighter, and that’s what I do.“