Ricky Hatton has voiced his opinion on the events that are unfolding around the Chris Eubank Jr versus Conor Benn fight after it came to light that the latter has tested positive for trace amounts of a banned substance.
The Daily Mail reported this morning that Benn, ahead of the super fight this weekend, had been found to have trace amounts of clomifene in his A sample test carried out by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency. The substance is on the banned list provided by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Later in the day, the British Boxing Board of Control released a statement in which they ‘prohibited’ the fight happening under their jurisdiction, labelling it ‘not in the interests of boxing.’
‘The Hitman’ has a vested in interest in the event this weekend, as he trains Chloe Watson who was scheduled to face Nancy Franco on the undercard. Speaking to Boxing Social at the open workout, Hatton said:
“I know Conor would of worked very hard I know Chris would of worked very hard.
The fans have been looking forward to it so much. Also a lot of people have been working hard who are on the undercard. I can’t comment too much on what’s actually gone on or what’s actually happened, I just hope the show can carry on, but the main thing is the fighters health.
Bearing in mind the weight differential, that’s got to be taken into consideration, hopefully the best decision will be made by the board of control and hopefully the show can go on.
It’s a travesty to hear the news the main event might not take place, but everything has to be done for the right reasons – the safety of the boxers.
It’s just a shame because everyone on the bill including the main event has worked so hard.”
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of the event, has confirmed that, should the main event be off, the entire card would follow suit. This, as Hatton points out, would be a travesty for the lesser paid fighters on the undercard who have had full training camps and made sacrifices aplenty.
However, that may not be the case just yet. It would seem that lawyers on behalf of the event are now in discussions with the BBBofC about the status of the fight – with both sets of promoters and fighters still hopeful a resolution can be found before Saturday night.