Conor Benn has spoken out in detail for the first time since his fight with Chris Eubank Jr was postponed following a failed drugs test.
In an interview with SunSport, Benn revealed more specifics about the situation and insisted that he is not the villain that he is being portrayed as and continued to plead his innocence.
The 26-year-old, who was set to complete a unique, cross-generation trilogy fight, revealed that he could still box under a different licence, after letting his one expire with the British Boxing Board, however he’d prefer to wait until his innocence is proven.
“I wouldn’t want to fight without this being resolved. But part of me thinks, if people are portraying me as the villain, I might as well be the villain. I haven’t really decided yet.
I won’t fight until this is resolved, with a foreign licence or not. Whether people believe it or not, is not down to me. But there comes a stage where you harden and think, ‘Eff you, then’.
I could fight in another county in February — but I don’t want to do that because it looks like I am running away. I hope this is all cleared up by then.”
Benn went on to talk about the emotions and “pain” he’s been going through since the situation became public.
“I don’t want to keep getting hurt by this. It’s horrible dealing with this at 26 after working so hard every day.
I wonder if I can ever fight again right now. But I cannot let them win. I could get fit enough, I could just compartmentalise, switch off and focus on the training. But I didn’t want to be the villain because I am innocent.
My innocence matters to me. It hurts. It’s hard for me to explain what kind of pain this is.”
Benn claimed that he’d have ‘to be an idiot’ to take a substance that stays in your system for months, after signing up for VADA testing and hinted that he believes contamination could be the only logical explanation.