British welterweight contender Conor Benn has marked an important milestone in his career after the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) and National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) exonerated the fighter of knowingly and intentionally ingesting illegal substances. The official verdict of both institutions has not yet been made public.
Conor Benn’s (21-0, 14 KO’s) clearance is a pivotal victory for the Brit outside the ring. After failing two drug tests for the banned substance clomiphene in 2022, in the lead-up to his fight with Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KO’s), the welterweight contender was almost immediately condemned as an illegal substance user by the public before an official investigation could even commence.
Held hostage by the opinion of the public, Conor Benn failed to ingratiate himself after the WBC cleared him of intentionally using PEDs by claiming he had eaten too many eggs. An interview with Piers Morgan also didn’t win him any favors, and a subsequent bust-up with boxing reporter Gareth A. Davies did nothing to sway the public.
However, UKAD and NADP have completely evaporated expectations of a lengthy ban for the Brit, who has apparently been cleared of the charges of illegal drug use and can now fight freely in the UK.
Obviously happy with the decision of the anti-doping agencies, Conor Benn took to his social media outlets to express his satisfaction at the verdict:
“Today (Friday, 28th of July) marks the end of the grueling 10-month process, during which the WBC had already decided that I was innocent of any wrongdoing,” Benn’s official statement read.
“After a hearing with the National Anti-Doping Panel and UKAD, I have now been vindicated for the second time. Hopefully, the public and various members of the media can now understand why I have maintained my innocence so strongly all the way through.
“The UKAD process has now formally ended, and I remain free to fight. Naturally, I am pleased that I can now put this behind me once and for all. As you can imagine, the last 10 months have weighed heavily on me, and I am anxious that if this happened to me, it could potentially happen to any honest, dedicated, and clean athlete like me.
“I would like to thank my fans that have kept the faith when many have turned against me, as well as my team, Matchroom, my friends and family, sponsors, and also my legal team, all of whom have shared a belief in me and a commitment to ensuring the correct result being obtained and justice being achieved.
“Only with the strength of all this support have I been able to continue during this challenging time. I now intend to put this matter behind me and look forward, which begins with fighting as soon as possible so I can remind everyone who I am.“
Conor Benn can now re-apply for his British Boxing License with the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), though it is yet unknown how this process will proceed after the fighter flung several accusations towards the organization and relinquished his license with the board when he was denied from renewing it.
If his license is re-instated, the British welterweight can continue his career as planned, though the stigma of being a suspected steroid user can realistically still hang over his head given examples of other athletes that have been suspected of PED-use, including the likes of Jon Jones who tested positive for clomiphene and letrozole in 2016, only to be cleared later by USADA of intentional doping, and former two-time world champion Fernando Vargas who was cleared of intentional drug use despite testing positive for clenbuterol.
