Eddie Hearn is confident Conor Benn will be exonerated
Eddie Hearn is confident Conor Benn will be exonerated following UKAD’s investigation into his failed drug tests
- Conor Benn failed two pre-fight drug tests last year and is under investigation
- Hearn thinks Benn will be exonerated with the verdict of the UKAD investigation
- However, the promoter did admit to questioning Benn’s, 26, innocence at first
Eddie Hearn is confident Conor Benn will be exonerated as the verdict of the UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD) investigation into his failed drug test last year approaches.
Benn is facing a potential ban of up to two years from UKAD after failing two pre-fight drug tests in the lead up to his October showdown with Chris Eubank Jnr.
The 26-year-old welterweight has maintained his innocence and spent ‘hundreds and thousands’ on scientists to clear his name after traces of clomiphene were found in his samples.
Hearn admitted to questioning Benn’s innocence when the news first broke, but told Piers Morgan he is now confident his fighter will be exonerated.
Speaking to Morgan on Uncensored, the Matchroom boss said: ‘I’ve know Conor Benn since he was 18, 19 years of age. When he came over from Australia on his own. He left his mum and dad there to make a name for himself in boxing.
Eddie Hearn is confident Conor Benn (right) will be exonerated following UKAD’s investigation into his failed drug tests
Benn (R) failed the pre-fight drug tests ahead of his clash with Chris Eubank Jr (L) in October
‘The meticulous nature of his preparation for boxing, his love of the sport, his deep faith, all of the things. The way he trains with Tony Sims. The way he was so insistent on additional testing that he paid for going into the fight.
‘The amount of times I’ve sat with this young man in my office and watch him break down in tears on the floor. For me to question him. I didn’t believe him initially.
‘In this instance and in life in general, guilty until proven innocent. My first reaction was I can’t believe it, he wouldn’t do that.’
When asked whether he expects Benn to be exonerated, Hearn said: ‘I do. I believe he will be.
‘He went through the right procedure and with VADA. That’s who did the tests. He was cleared, he was reinstated in the rankings.
‘Everyone was saying he needs to go through UKAD and the British boxing board of control. He turned around and he went, okay I’ll do that as well.
Benn has maintained that he did not intentionally digest the banned substance clomiphene
‘He spent hundreds and thousands going through that process. The result is imminent. I believe him. It’s been one year since the test.
‘But, every day he’s had untold stick. And, if he’s clear – and I hope he will be – I hope some people understand what he went through.’
Hearn went on to discuss Tyson Fury, who is set to face MMA star Francis Ngannou in a lucrative Saudi exhibition on October 29, saying: ‘Tyson Fury turned down the Oleksandr Usyk fight, the most important fight in boxing, to fight an MMA fighter who’s never had a fight before in his life in Saudi Arabia. We’ve got to be honest, Tyson Fury cares about one thing only – the money.’
Hearn added: ‘He’s [Fury] beaten Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder – that’s his wins. He needs to beat Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua, and then we can talk about him – as I believe he is – as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.’
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