Eddie Hearn didn’t accuse Artur Beterbiev of using performance-enhancing drugs Thursday.
Callum Smith’s promoter made it perfectly clear, however, that his company, Matchroom Boxing, wants more information related to Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tests that revealed in mid-December that Beterbiev had elevated levels of HGH and testosterone in his blood and urine. Hearn discussed the results of Beterbiev’s December 6 tests, which were revealed in article posted Wednesday on keviniole.com, with a group of reporters following the final press conference for the light heavyweight title bout between Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) and Smith (29-1, 21 KOs).
Hearn stressed that these were atypical findings, not adverse findings, therefore their 12-round fight for Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO 175-pound championships will proceed as planned Saturday night at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada (ESPN; 10 p.m. ET).
“Not an adverse finding, but an atypical finding,” Hearn said. “But still raised levels, which as a promoter of a fighter in the other corner is a concern. So, we’ve been working with VADA to try and understand the reasons why. It’s all out there for your information, to do your research. And I know they’ll want us to be careful of what we say.”
Smith’s attorney and Matchroom representatives have remained in consistent communication with VADA since Smith’s side was alerted almost a month ago about the raised levels of HGH and testosterone in Beterbiev’s system. Hearn hasn’t been satisfied with what they’ve learned thus far.
“No, not really,” Hearn said. “I mean, there has been additional testing since, but not additional around those results, just the standard testing that follows. So, in this one test there was a spike in these substances. And then in the tests the week after, there wasn’t. What we wanna know is – we’re not scientists. We just wanna know why was those levels raised? And the questions that we’ve asked VADA we will continue to ask.”
If they don’t receive adequate answers by Saturday night, England’s Smith, the mandatory challenger for the Russian-born, Montreal-based Beterbiev’s WBC belt, will battle Beterbiev as scheduled.
“It’s not gonna affect the fight anyway,” Hearn said, “you know, because contractually we would only be in a position, or the fight would be canceled if it was an adverse [finding].”
England’s Hearn has found his promotional company embroiled in several PED ordeals – most notably in October 2022, when Conor Benn’s positive test for clomiphene caused his domestic middleweight showdown with rival Chris Eubank Jr. to be canceled two days in advance of when it was to take place at O2 Arena in London. More recently, Hearn had to replace heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte with Robert Helenius on less than one week’s notice because there were adverse findings in Whyte’s PED tests that prohibited him from facing former champion Anthony Joshua in their rematch August 12 at O2 Arena.
Hearn has drawn a lot of criticism for Matchroom’s handling of the Eubank-Benn cancelation. Though he repeatedly noted the difference between atypical and adverse findings, Hearn wondered aloud Thursday why more hasn’t been made of Beterbiev’s VADA tests from December.
“I was just pleased yesterday that the information came out, because we’ve known the information since the middle of December,” Hearn explained. “But it hasn’t been released. It’s difficult to release the information because what they will feel is that people would accuse Artur. Again, I comment, it’s not an adverse finding. But when there’s raised levels of those substances, we cannot help but investigate further. We wouldn’t be doing our job. And Callum’s lawyer has been doing that with VADA. You know, again, we’d like a little bit more information.”
When pressed as to why Smith’s side hadn’t revealed Beterbiev’s atypical findings before Iole’s article was posted, Hearn noted that Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., not Matchroom, is the promoter of this event.
“One because it wasn’t our testing,” Hearn said. “Two, it’s not our fight. Three, it’s not our fighter. Four, there’s confidentiality around the test. We wanted this information to come out because we wanted an open forum to discuss. And it got to a point [Wednesday] where I think the information was going to come out, and there was a decision made to make sure that it came out first. Do you know what I mean?”
A Top Rank spokesman declined comment when asked Thursday by BoxingScene.com about Beterbiev’s abovementioned VADA test results. Hearn, meanwhile, expressed displeasure regarding VADA’s differentiation between atypical and adverse findings in its testing procedures.
“That’s what I don’t like about it,” Hearn said. “For me, it should be one or the other. It’s either a test is absolutely fine or it’s a positive test. To alert us with that information, we have to then look into that for the safety of our fighter. Do you know what I mean?”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.