Queensbury promoter Frank Warren has shared his frustration at the prolonged Conor Benn saga following his positive VADA drug tests ahead of his fight with Chris Eubank.
In an interview on his Queensbury YouTube channel, Warren said that there are simple solutions to determine whether or not the claims of contaminations are true – to test the B-sample. Warren also targeted rival promoter Eddie Hearn for not only attempting to persist with the fight after the positive test, but for keeping information out of the public eye and preventing a hearing.
“It’s been well-known by a few of us in the business that he had failed a previous test and it just goes from bad to worse. It’s just becoming so distracting for the sport, it needs to be dealt with.”
“This is not something that you get in a nasal spray, it’s not one of those types of things, this has a distinct purpose. It’s a women’s fertility drug and the purpose is to get testosterone into your body, that’s where it’s at. If you want to get testosterone in your body, that’s normally because you lose testosterone when you take steroids.”
“Now they are saying that, not one, but now both of them [tests] were contaminated, well the only way you are going to find out if they were contaminated, is by having the B-sample tested… It’s just going from bad to worse and I think he has been very, very badly advised in this. I’m not talking about legally, obviously he is going to a lawyer because his career is on the line and I understand that.”
“To have kept on promoting this fight, with the information that they had is totally unacceptable and the fall guy for this is obviously going to be Conor Benn. He must have got the drug from somebody, somebody must have advised him to take them. If he wants to clear himself, then get the hearing on and get an independent body, UKAD, to deal with it. The Board of Control won’t deal with it, UKAD deal with it and let them have everything appertaining to this and deal with it.”
Warren also went on to question recent claims from Benn that he wouldn’t have taken a drug whilst he is paying for VADA tests. The veteran promoter believes the 26-year-old may have had no choice.
“He had to pay money for VADA testing because he is part of the WBC clean athlete program, if you remember in January, they look him out of the ratings and the only way that you can get back in the ratings is to have the test. I don’t know whether he paid for the test in July or if it was a part of the Clean Athlete Program.”
Benn could still fight under a foreign boxing license for the time being, but he and his team fear that he may never fight again unless he can prove his innocence. For now, fans can only wait for more information to come out and hope the situation can be resolved as quickly as possible so that Benn can either get on with his career or his ban – depending on what happens next.