Benn cleared of cheating as British boxer expresses wish after drugs test probe

Conor Benn has been cleared by UKAD for his two failed VADA drug tests ahead of his long-awaited grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr in October of last year. The 26-year-old expressed his relief in a statement uploaded to social media and hopes to return to the ring imminently.

The fighter wrote: “Today marks the end of the of a gruelling 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.

“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.”

Benn is free to fight in the UK again after being cleared by UKAD and will re-enter the WBC welterweight rankings. He is expected to return to the ring this year with Kell Brook, Manny Pacquiao and Eubank Jr all touted as potential opponents.

This comes after the WBC absolved Benn of an intentional doping offence after ruling that “highly-elevated consumption of eggs” was considered a “reasonable explanation” for returning adverse findings for the banned substance Clomiphene. The WBC concluded there was “no conclusive evidence that Mr Benn engaged in intentional or knowing ingestion of Clomiphene”.

UKAD are yet to release a statement at the time of writing clarifying their decision.