Eddie Hearn has responded to the recent controversy surrounding the drug testing for the rematch between Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith.
Testing for the main event box office bout was brought into question when Eubank posted a urine sample on his social media, prompting Smith’s side to say that a UK Anti-Doping test was nothing to shout about and that there was no sign of the organisation many feel to be the ‘gold standard’, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency.
VADA is an extra layer of testing employed by promoters at a cost alongside the regular governing body testing, of which all fighters undergo when licensed to fight.
Ben Shalom of BOXXER, who promoted the event, said that the testing information was confidential, later confirming that VADA was not in play.
Speaking to IFL TV, Hearn said that it was an ‘absolute joke’, and cast up previous comments from his rival about striving to make the sport safer.
“There was no VADA testing. Understand this, it’s a pay-per-view event. Absolute joke. You wouldn’t pay the 30 grand. So don’t talk to me, don’t make comments. You couldn’t lace my boots. Put your hand in your pocket and make the sport safer.
And please don’t ever rely on ‘oh there’s UKAD testing.’ How many times was Liam Smith tested? How many times was Eubank tested? Look at the stats of how many British fighters are being tested under that random programme from UKAD.
All right, Liam Smith might’ve been tested once, twice. If he signs up for VADA he’s tested an extra six times across the camp.”
The Matchroom boss encouraged his competitors to use VADA on top of UKAD, and said that revealing the information was not confidential.
“You do both. You talk about wanting to make the sport safer – you’re all complete hypocrites. It’s unbelievable … ‘Em, it’s confidential’ – no it’s not. It’s public knowledge on VADA’s social pages. The testing results are confidential, not to answer a question of is there testing.”
Hearn then pointed out correctly, using examples from his own shows of late, that both Conor Benn and Robert Helenius would ‘have never failed a test’ if there was only UKAD’s services employed as they were both found positive by only VADA.
BOXXER have used VADA testing in the past, most notably for Kell Brook’s grudge match with Amir Khan. The latter would return a positive UKAD result post-fight.