Following speculation, Conor Benn has confirmed that he’ll be fighting in Abu Dhabi on June 3 this year.
The undefeated welterweight hasn’t fought since a second round stoppage of Chris Van Heerden in April of 2022.
In the ensuing months, he failed two doping tests for the banned substance, Clomiphene, and has been protesting innocence ever since.
Benn shared a video – via IFL TV – in which he informed his fans of the ring return.
“Fight news soon. I’ll be dropping it on my Discord as soon as it’s all announced and all confirmed, signed, sealed and delivered. June the 3rd, Abu Dhabi is the date. Just waiting to confirm opponent as we speak.”
The potential opponents remain the same – Chris Eubank Jr, Kell Brook and Manny Pacquiao. Eubank Jr is who Benn wants most – a chance at burying the rivalry they almost settled last October before news of the failed tests.
This will not only mark Benn’s return to the ring, but his first fight without the backing of the British Board.
Whilst he and promoter, Eddie Hearn, seem content with being allowed back into the WBC rankings after the sanctioning body found ‘no conclusive evidence that he engaged in intentional ingestion’, the case isn’t closed in the minds of fans.
To fight in Abu Dhabi he’ll seek the permission of the Dubai Boxing Commission, something he’ll have to continue to do unless his home governing body come to a resolution in the doping case.
BBBofC’s General Secretary, Robert Smith, has also stated that the Board may have a part to play in the opponent selection, suggesting that Eubank Jr, for example, would need approval to fight in these circumstances.
It’s an intervention that has been branded as ‘wild’ by Hearn.