Conor Benn landed on the opposite end of a drug testing scandal this time around.
BoxingScene.com has learned that Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco was temporarily suspended by the Florida Boxing License Commission following a positive drug test produced surrounding his September 24 defeat to Benn. A sample returned from testing contracted through Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) returned an adverse finding for a banned substance.
The result was learned after their DAZN-aired welterweight bout from Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. VADA staff is bound by confidentiality and unable to return comment to Boxing Scene. Representatives from the Florida commission did not return a message seeking comment, though Boxing Scene has learned that the matter is still under investigation.
Benn (22-0, 14KOs) fought for the first time since last April. The bulk of the inactive stretch stemmed from his positive drug test for the banned substance Clomiphene ahead of his eventually canceled fight versus Chris Eubank Jr. The battle of second-generation boxers was due to take place last October 8 but canceled two days prior once the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) confirmed on the record its refusal to sanction the event.
A months-long investigation was launched while he was provisionally suspended by United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD). A ruling by the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) on July 28 lifted the ban, though it was since appealed by UKAD and the BBBofC, where Benn remains unlicensed.
The fight versus Guasave’s Orozco saw Benn extended the full ten-round distance, after which the 27-year-old from Ilford, Essex claimed a well-earned, unanimous decision.
Orozco fought beyond the seventh round for just the second time, both which resulted in unanimous decision defeats. He was lauded for his brave effort versus Benn, though that viewpoint is now skewed in light of his own drug testing scandal.
The Florida commission will likely address the matter in full during its next commission meeting on a yet to be determined date early in the new year. Orozco is banned from fighting anywhere in the U.S. during the investigation, though commissions in Mexico are not necessarily bound to the ruling—however unethical it would be to exploit such a loophole.
Benn hopes to return to the ring in February. His name is once again linked to a potential fight versus Eubank Jr., though such a fight remains in discussion.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox