Conor Benn should not be fighting this weekend and has not cleared his name after testing positive for a banned substance on two occasions.
Despite his promoter, Eddie Hearn, stating that Benn is cleared to fight in September, British Boxing Board of Control Secretary Robert Smith has dismissed those claims.
At present, an appeal is in motion to the lifting of a provisional suspension by the National Anti-Doping Panel in the UK. Benn is yet to have a formal conclusion to the process.
Instead of waiting for the final ruling, Benn and Hearn sought a license in the United States from the Texas Athletic Commission. This is because boxing has no unified body to stop those suspected of cheating from competing.
Until the investigation is complete, Benn is allowed to apply to any other governing body outside of the UK.
Texas has decided to give Benn the green light. That’s despite the tornado of controversy hanging over the welterweight’s head.
Smith insists Benn should not be seeking to continue his career until a final judgment on the tests is made public. There’s still a significant chance “The Destroyer” could be suspended in the UK.
Conor Benn has not cleared his name
“Although it’s a sport, we don’t deal with teams, we deal with individuals. And sometimes people look after themselves rather than the sport in general, which is slightly disappointing,” Smith told talkSPORT.
“I understand why they do it. But no, I don’t think he should be boxing. Personally, I don’t think he should be boxing until this matter is cleared.
“Hopefully, that’ll be done as soon as possible,” he added.
Responding to several announcements by Hearn and Benn that he’s cleared his name, Smith gave a damning verdict on that insistence.
“He hasn’t cleared it [his name]. There are a number of issues that are still outstanding, which everybody’s aware of.
“We’ve decided to appeal a decision. Once the appeal has taken place, we’ll take it on board from there.
“But when Eddie says he’s cleared his name, according to us, we haven’t had an explanation of how the positive test came about. So I don’t quite agree with Eddie on that one.”
Benn could still face suspension
On Saturday night, Benn will fight Rodolfo Orozco through Texas in Orlando, Florida. He trades blows despite nothing formally explained or settled from two separate tests weeks apart. Both tests flagged for the same substance – clomifene.
The WBC accepted the eggs could have caused Benn’s adverse findings. Those double findings ultimately scrapped the fight with Chris Eubank Jr. last October.
However, Benn himself disagreed with this notion. But the WBC placed Benn back in the rankings last April, only to remove him again in July for inactivity.
Benn gets back in the ring this weekend with a cloud of controversy still following him around. If he is banned by the BBBofC after any interim fight during the process, the situation would take a massive downturn and leave lots of questions to answer.
