Eddie Hearn has jumped to the defense of the four boxers lined up to fight in Saudi Arabia this weekend who have also tested positive for banned substances.
The Matchroom boss even admitted he didn’t know that one of the fighters, Mariusz Wach, had failed TWICE in the past.
Defending his decision to feature the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Eric Molina and Dillian Whyte on the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Anthony Joshua rematch bill, Hearn also admitted drugs are an ongoing problem in the heavyweight division.
“Povetkin failed (for what were) tiny levels of meldonium,” Hearn told Business Insider in Diriyah.
“Now VADA (the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) is saying they’ve changed the levels. Just like they’ve done for clenbuterol because Mexican fighters were found with the tiniest traces of clenbuterol on the WBC Clean Boxing Program.
“WBC and VADA have got together and said we need to raise those levels because you can eat meat. You saw this with the Canelo thing (banned for six months in 2018).
“It may sound dodgy, but they’re saying, I’m telling you now, if you have a steak in Argentina there’s a good chance you’ll get a trace level of clenbuterol, so they’ve upped those levels as well.”
Regarding Molina, an ex-opponent of Joshua, Hearn pointed out the American had served his two-year ban.
Molina spoke exclusively to WBN just before being confirmed as the opponent to Filip Hrgovic this weekend.
“The B12 can be used out of competition. I failed the test due to the anti-inflammatory contained in it. But UKAD released statements to the world media as if I was a PED cheat. As if they actually found and busted someone for steroids,” Molina explained exclusively to World Boxing News.
“If that’s the way they see me then I want them to ban me for life. Ban me from fighting in the UK, I strongly urge them to because I want no part of that corruption.
“Their media release put out on me reads like I was a dirty, filthy cheat. I knew I had thirteen tears of boxing behind me and I have never cheated in that time.”
WHYTE vs WACH
The matter involving Whyte is an ongoing saga that is still yet to be fully addressed. Hearn took the opportunity to point out no sanctions are active against the former WBC mandatory challenger.
“Dillian is cleared (to fight Mariusz Wach). Again, there’s still more to come on that. But let’s see how that one plays out because I believe he’s totally innocent.”
The most eyebrow-raising comment came on bean Pole Wach, who Hearn claims to have missed failures and bans in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
“Funnily enough, I didn’t even know about Mariusz Wach,” concluded the Essex man.
