Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council, explained that welterweight contender Conor Benn was dropped from the rankings due to his inactivity.
Benn has been out of the ring since knocking out Chris Van Heerden in April of 2022.
He was scheduled to face Chris Eubank Jr. in October of last year, but their fight was canceled when it was revealed that Benn had tested positive for a banned substance.
The WBC would drop him from their rankings, but they eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing and reinstated him.
However, Benn is still involved in an ongoing legal situation with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and the British Boxing Board of Control.
Because of the drug testing drama, Benn was provisionally suspended by UKAD – and he doesn’t possess a valid license to box in the UK.
Because of the current scenario, Benn has been unable to box – and the ongoing stint of inactivity has forced the WBC’s hand to remove him from the rankings.
“The WBC ratings committee decided to remove Conor Benn due to the 15-month inactivity which is part of the ratings criteria,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
“It seems there is no scheduled fight at this moment but Conor may contact the WBC to explain his case and his ranking situation may be addressed as a rating appeal [in] its process.”
For the last few months, there had been talk of rescheduling the fight between Benn and Eubank. But, that won’t be happening in the near future. On Wednesday, it was officially announced that Eubank had rescheduled his rematch with Liam Smith for September 2 in Manchester.
Another possibility for Benn, should he clear himself with UKAD, is a fight with former welterweight champion Kell Brook.