Conor Benn has revealed what was said when he met with a former opponent who had plenty to say following his doping controversy in 2022.
Benn was set to face Chris Eubank Jr in October 2022 on the back of two impressive stoppage wins over Chris Algieri and Chris van Heerden, but his career was cast into doubt after he failed a doping test.
Van Heerden then spoke out and explained his concerns, accusing Benn and slamming the governing bodies for not banning the Brit or enforcing severe punishment, in an interview with Slothboxx.
“There are no consequences for getting caught, it is a joke. I sat and thought about it and I was like ‘what are the chances of him not knowing that he is taking a banned substance?’ it is very easy to [do], to be honest.
I lost to a guy that has been drugged up and had such a huge advantage. Going off of my history as of my career, I have never been knocked out, not by Errol Spence Jr, not Kaizer Mabuza.
“I have fought some big hitters and none has ever dropped me to the chin, ever. Here comes Conor Benn and he does that, I don’t have peace, I am not at peace with it.”
Benn has since returned to the sport as he attempts to get his title bid back on track, defeating Rodolfo Orozco in Orlando via unanimous-decision, and now he has had the chance to meet with van Heerden, an experience which he shared with ES News.
“He’s a cool dude, man, but when you are accusing me of not being natural and saying that was the reason why he lost, it was like ‘OK, cool, let’s run it back. No problem, let’s run it back, you and Algieri in the same night.
When I spoke to him he said ‘you have given me more than you have taken from me, thank you. Sorry [about the accusations]’. It was a way of justifying his loss, I understand that. There was no animosity, life is too short for that s**t.
“I would always welcome a rematch with whoever [doubts their losses to me].
Benn returns to the ring once again on Saturday night, facing undefeated American Peter Dobson (16-0) live on DAZN.