Conor Benn calls for lifetime bans for proven drug cheats amid his comeback bout

By Mark Walker, PA Sport

Conor Benn insists proven drug cheats should be banned for life as he prepares to reignite his career.

The 26-year-old has not fought since April 2022 after failing two voluntary drugs tests, but has vehemently protested his innocence and has been cleared to fight Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco this weekend in Orlando.

Benn, in Florida ahead of Saturday’s fight with 24-year-old super-welterweight Orozco at Caribe Royale, said: “It hasn’t changed how I feel. They can take your hair follicles, your nails, science doesn’t lie.

“They can solve murder cases from 10-15 years ago. They can definitely tell if there are any abnormalities in an individual’s body over the last six months to a year.

“So if the science comes back, and it’s proven doping, ban for life. Ban for life. See you later. There’s no room for it.

“But if you are innocent, don’t let it be a trial by media or politics. That’s all this is. This is nothing to do with my innocence.”

Benn tested positive for clomifene after two Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) tests in the build-up to his scheduled fight with Chris Eubank Jr last October.

He was formally charged by UK Anti-Doping in April, and it was announced in July he had been cleared by an independent National Anti-Doping Panel.

But UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) appealed against the decision to lift Benn’s provisional suspension last month, which prevented the son of former two-weight world champion Nigel Benn being able to resume his boxing career in his home country.

Hearn said a clash with Chris Eubank Jr could happen in the UK in December and that he had already received offers from international venues to stage the fight.

Benn’s positive tests were conducted by VADA for the WBC, which cleared the boxer of any wrongdoing in February, pointing to an “elevated consumption of eggs” for the findings.

The Londoner, who has criticised the governing body’s handling of his case, said: “The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have done a case study on this, so how does nobody know about it?

“How come two other fighters have tested positive (for clomifene) within this year and two cyclists, all tested positive, all in trace amounts.

“People need to look into this further. How can it be strict liability when it’s in our food?

“The case study has been done and it happens to be that the scientific evidence matches up to the case study.

“They did a test and someone digested a tablet and someone was contaminated via food, and it shows up completely differently in the body. It metabolises differently in the body.

“My case is clear, that it’s come from food because it shows in certain parts of the body it wasn’t digested via a tablet.”