As fight fans may have heard or read by now, Conor Benn has reportedly tested positive for an illegal substance and this Saturday’s heavily hyped fight with Chris Eubank Jr is almost certain to be called off. Moments after the news of Benn’s positive test broke, the word from the respective promoters of the bout was that the fight would still go ahead. But soon after that, the British Boxing Board of Control released an official statement saying the fight was “prohibited.”
Reportedly, Benn’s sample, tested by VADA, showed signs of a banned fertility drug, and the fighter’s B sample is yet to be tested. When the news initially broke, both Benn and Chris Eubank Jr said they were still willing to fight. But now, with the BBB of C laying the law down, the biggest fight this year in Britain will almost certainly not be taking place. We have yet to hear from either fighter or from Eddie Hearn or Kalle Sauerland. Yet quite obviously, fans, the under card fighters and everyone else involved with his huge event are very frustrated and disappointed by these developments.
Benn is of course far from the first big-name fighter to (allegedly) test positive for an illegal substance, and sadly he will not be the last. Right now, the disappointment from a fan’s perspective aside – all that hype, all that trash-talk, and now we will not get to see which man wins the argument – it’s hard not to sympathise with Eubank Jr and the under card fighters.
What we have here is a total disaster. One the sport can ill afford right now, or at any time. These past few days have been bad ones indeed for boxing fans; what with the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua mess, the possibility of the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence fight not happening (at least not this year), and now this bad news with regards to the so-called “Legacy Fight.”
Stay tuned as further developments unfold, as they undoubtedly will.
