THAT’S POSITIVE
Nightmare week after Benn fails a drug test... but there is hope that Eubank blockbuster could be back ON before Christmas...
CHRIS EUBANK JNR and Conor Benn want to fight before the end of this year — and December 17 is now being mooted as a potential date for their clash.
The pair’s original bout, scheduled for last night, was postponed after Benn tested positive for the banned substance clomifene, a drug which can be used to boost testosterone.
But the fact the adverse finding was flagged in a test carried out by the Voluntary Anti-drugs Association (VADA) rather than United Kingdom Anti-doping (UKAD) – which the fighters were signed up to, and whose tests Benn passed – means the 26-year-old isn’t banned.
And that potentially paves the way for the two men to meet in the coming weeks, with all the dates available to broadcaster DAZN being studied – but the Saturday before Christmas Eve, for now at least, is seen as the most likely.
A meeting between the two promoters involved in the fight – Matchroom Boxing for the Benn camp; Wasserman Boxing for Eubank – and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBOC) to try to resolve the situation is scheduled for this week.
And given that Matchroom and Benn’s team believe they have a strong legal if not moral position, there is hope that the money-spinning bout can be rekindled sooner rather than later.
Benn knows that he faces a battle to clear his name as a clean fighter either way, and those in his inner circle are said to have been devastated by what has happened in the last couple of weeks.
They were made aware of the positive test in late September, but it wasn’t until last Thursday that the BBBOC said it would not sanction the contest after news of the failed test broke.
Benn – whose father Nigel shared the ring for two epic fights with
Chris Eubank Senior back in the Nineties – had spoken with Eubank Jnr soon after learning of his positive test, but both fighters were happy to proceed.
And they were still keen to crack on last week, when the whole furore became public knowledge.
Eubank is understood to have been happy that despite
Benn testing positive for a drug with performanceenhancing properties, his opponent had been so badly affected by the whole situation that he wouldn’t pose any enhanced threat in the ring – and it would therefore be an easy night’s work regardless.
The terms of the fight meant super-middleweight Eubank dropping down to meet welterweight Benn at a catchweight of 157lbs. But Eubank had been on weight – or at least no more than 1lb over – since the beginning of fight week and was raring to go.
The 33-year-old was due to pocket more than £3million for the fight plus his share of pay-per-view revenues, while Benn was set to earn around £2m plus his share of the TV money.
Last week, discussions took place over revisiting the purse-split terms to see Eubank handed a greater share after Benn’s positive drugs test result.
But nothing had been agreed by the time the decision was taken on Friday to postpone the match. A source close to the big fight said: “All that we can be confident of now is that there will be more twists and turns to come.”