Promoter Frank Warren is fully in favor of the efforts by Britain’s governing bodies to get a handle on the Conor Benn drug scandal.
And if his fellow denizens of the boxing world are worth any salt, says Warren, they should feel the same way as well.
Last week, United Kingdom Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of Control filed an appeal against the National Anti-Doping Panel’s decision to lift Benn’s suspension.
Benn, the 26-year-old welterweight, had been under provisional suspension by UKAD for his two positive drug tests last year, the revelation of which led to the cancellation of Benn’s high-profile fight with Chris Eubank Jr. in October. Both tests were administered by Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, a respected third-party testing agency that promoters will often contract with for significant fights.
According to sources for the Daily Mail, Benn’s lawyers argued that UKAD had no jurisdiction to preside over drug samples collected by VADA.
Warren, the head of Queensberry Promotions, recently offered a full-throated criticism of the Benn drug saga, decrying the tactics used by Benn’s team to take advantage of legal “loopholes.”
“Yes [UKAD and BBBofC were right to appeal]. If they didn’t do it (appeal), they wouldn’t be worth having,” Warren said during a media scrum. “There’s been no hearing. All this nonsense about he’s (Benn) been exonerated, where are the journalists? What is going on in this world? Where is anybody printing the truth? There was no hearing regarding him testing positive.
“The hearing was all about jurisdictions. How does that help the sport, finding loopholes to not have a hearing? So the Board of Control and UKAD have no option than to call for a hearing and appeal the decision. And anybody who has any concern about the sport will support that.”
Warren also spoke out against the recent spate of positive drug tests in the sport, many of them concerning fighters (Benn notwithstanding) associated with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte (a free agent who has frequently fought under Hearn) had to pull out of a scheduled contest with Anthony Joshua after it was revealed that Whyte had failed a drug test.
And last week, undisputed junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (who is under contract with Hearn) tested positive for two banned substances.
“And more importantly, Conor Benn, if he’s not guilty, then have the hearing with UKAD,” Warren said. “Why wouldn’t you do that? You’d get this sorry episode out of the way. It’s, what, been dragging out for a year or so now? you know, we keep having this—this whole drug situation needs to be sorted out.”
The appeal by UKAD and BBBofC could take a few months to resolve. However, Hearn has repeatedly stated that Benn could still return to the ring next month, although it remains unclear where he would be eligible to fight.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.