Eddie Hearn defends Conor Benn over failed drugs test

Eddie Hearn insists that Conor Benn is innocent until proven guilty following the postponement of his fight with Chris Eubank Jr.

‘The Destroyer’, 26, was due to face his fellow Brit at London’s iconic O2 Arena a week ago on Saturday before he failed a drugs test.

Benn’s A-Sample returned an adverse finding for the banned substance clomifene during a random drugs test carried out by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).

Despite this, he has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

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And promoter Hearn has publicly addressed the situation after receiving backlash on social media.

“It’s a very difficult situation when you’re in it, this was a problem shared by the entire promotion and the commission,” he said during an appearance on The DAZN Boxing Show per DAZN.

“I don’t like the phrase ‘It was kept from people’, it wasn’t kept from anyone, ultimately the commission who ruled whether the fight takes place or not was aware of this situation from the get-go. 

“There’s information about the testing, the amounts, that will come to light which I can’t really comment on because Conor Benn’s got a big fight on his hands.

“All I’ll say is that we’ve been here before with Dillian Whyte, everyone wrote him off, everyone said his career was over, and it turned out he was completely innocent.” 

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He also dismissed claims that they had tried to hide the result from the public.

“This wasn’t something anyone tried to brush under the carpet, this is a testing programme that is implemented by us, the promotion, and is not acknowledged by the governing