British middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. is disgusted by the recent spate of fighters testing positive for banned performance-enhancing substances in his country.
Last year, Conor Benn tested positive twice for clomifene, a drug used to treat infertility but, when used by men, boosts testosterone levels. The discovery of the second of the two tests led to the cancellation of the high-profile catchweight bout between Eubank and Benn.
More recently, it was revealed that retired junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan had failed a drug test immediately after his sixth-round defeat to Kell Brook 14 months ago. The banned substance in question was ostarine, an anabolic agent. United Kingdom Anti-Doping slapped Khan with a backdated two-year ban, instead of the usual four, because it deemed plausible the explanation Khan had ingested it unintentionally.
Asked to weigh in on the news, Eubank expressed only disappointment and relayed his own experiences brushing up against unsavory types offering him “assistance.”
“I’ve had the offers,” Eubank said of being approached by dope peddlers in an interview with iFL TV. “You go in and out of the gyms and you’ve got guys, you’ve got trainers, guys on the side, [saying] ‘You need anything? You know, if you ever need anything let me know. I’ve had that talk over the years. And it’s just I would hear it and it would disgust me. Get away from me. And it’s like you hear so many of these fighters failing these tests.
“‘Jesus, you know, maybe I should’ve?’ That kind of passes through your mind for a split second and you snap back out of it. ‘What am I talking about?’ I never did anything like that and I never would. But it’s like it’s just annoying that I’ve dedicated and stayed true my whole life [to being a clean athlete] and you’ve got so many of these guys cutting corners. And I’m talking about generally.
“I’m not aiming this at Amir Khan because I don’t know the situation of what he did and didn’t do. I’m just talking about the general population of boxing, all these stories coming out about guys failing drugs tests and I’ve been here 10 years and never failed anything. It’s disheartening, it’s upsetting, disappointing, because kids are reading these headlines and going, ‘Well, Conor Benn did it. Amir Khan did it. I’m gonna do it.’ That’s the example that you’re setting for the kids coming up.
“I couldn’t live with myself if that was me. I put too much hard work into this sport. I’ve dedicated my life to this sport and someone tried to take that way by [saying], ‘Oh well, the only reason you’ve done what you’ve done is because you were juicing,’ that would destroy me. That would devastate me. That’s why I always stayed far away from it. But some guys they fall victim, man. They fall victim to the temptation. I don’t get tempted.”
Eubank (32-3, 23 KOs) will try to avenge his fourth-round knockout loss to Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) on June 17 at AO Arena in Manchester.
Sean Nam is the author of the forthcoming book Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.