Welterweight contender Conor Benn, 26-years-old, has announced that he was officially cleared by UKAD [UK Anti-Doping] in connection to his drug testing saga.
Last year, Benn tested positive for banned substance clomifene in two separate tests.
The second test led to the last-minute cancelation of his pay-per-view fight with Chris Eubank Jr. - which was scheduled for October of last year.
A few days before the fight, news broke of Benn testing positive for a banned substance. Ultimately, the British Boxing Board of Control prevented the event from going forward.
Benn would voluntarily reveal that he tested positive for the same substance in a separate test.
Benn's last ring appearance came in April of 2022.
In a separate investigation, the British fighter was cleared by the WBC earlier this year. The sanctioning body reinstated him to their official rankings but would recently remove him due to inactivity.
However, he was provisionally suspended by UKAD and invested by the drug testing agency for several months. The BBBoC would not allow him to box until the UKAD investigation had concluded.
Benn hired a team of lawyers and scientists, who put together evidence to show that their client was the victim of contamination through food ingestion.
“Today marks the end of the of a grueling 10 month process, during which the WBC had already decided that I was innocent of any wrongdoing. After a hearing with the National Anti-Doping Panel and UKAD, I have now been vindicated for the second time," Benn stated.
“Hopefully the public and various members of the media can now understand why I have maintained my innocence so strongly all the way through. The UKAD process has now formally ended, and I remain free to fight.
“Naturally I am pleased that I can now put this behind me once and for all. As you can imagine the last 10 months have weighed heavily on me and I am anxious that if this happened to me it could potentially happen to any honest, dedicated and clean athlete like me.
“I would like to thank my fans that have kept the faith when many have turned against me, as well as my team, Matchroom, my friends and family, sponsors and also my legal team, all of whom have shared a belief in me and a commitment to ensuring the correct result being obtained and justice being achieved.
“Only with the strength of all this support have I been able to continue during this challenging time. I now intend to put this matter behind me and look forward. Which begins with fighting as soon as possible so I can remind everyone who I am.”
