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Eddie Hearn has revealed that Conor Benn is in discussions with British boxing authorities over a return to the ring.
Benn has boxed twice in the USA since two positive tests for PEDs before his proposed fight with Chris Eubank Jnr scuppered their 2022 blockbuster, but his path has been far from smooth and he has protested his innocence every step of the way.
Hearn has stood by the welterweight contender, who has stayed in shape and kept training – waiting for the door of opportunity to reopen.
“My understanding is that he’s in talks, and I’m not involved with these talks, but I’m aware that they’re happening, with his lawyers, with the British Boxing Board of Control, with UKAD [UK Anti-Doping], and I think that we’ll know more early October as to how that will play out,” the promoter said.
“We’ve had the question, why doesn’t he just take a two-year ban and the test, was it in June 2022? So the problem is – I’ve said this before – we’ve seen a lot of instances recently when people have just gone, ‘Alright, hands up. I didn’t mean it, but this is what happened’, six-month ban or a year ban, but to Conor’s detriment, he’s kind of never wanted to concede a ban because of how he believes in his innocence, and he never wanted to do a deal and it’s probably cost him time. So I’m hoping now they can have some sensible conversations.”
The 27-year-old Benn is 23-0 (14 KOs) and in the US outscored Rodolfo Orozco – who subsequently failed a test – and Peter Dobson. In Benn’s last fight in the UK he stopped Chris van Heerden in two rounds, in April 2022.
Through all of the turmoil and uncertainty of the past two years, Benn has remained a high-profile athlete – one still mobbed by crowds wherever he goes, and to the extent that Hearn believes that the fighter’s return could sell out a soccer stadium.
“Especially against Eubank,” Hearn said. “When that fight gets announced and that build-up begins, it’s an absolute monster. We saw – that was the fastest-selling event we’ve ever had at the O2. It’s the biggest gate we’ve ever had, and that was before all the nonsense. People have been talking about that fight; people have been talking about Conor Benn for so long, and whether we go to Wembley or whether we go to the O2, but our instructions are clear from Conor, ‘My next fight is the biggest possible fight you can make’.
“He’s had these couple of little run outs [in America] that are a bit of a waste of time for him. He wants to dive in – into the biggest fight possible – and that fight is Eubank. I won’t hold my breath [that it happens], but what I will guarantee is when it’s resolved, he will be in the biggest fight I can possibly make.”
Little of the case has been made public. There have been appeals from both sides, but it seems that the clock is now rapidly ticking down on Benn’s return, with a camp insider estimating he will be back either at the end of this year or in March.
“Once he’s cleared to fight… I’m not going to drop anyone in it, but we were told when this all happened, ‘Look, just go and say this. Can’t you just say that…’” Hearn added. “And Conor was like, ‘No, I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m not admitting to anything and I’m not making something up that didn’t happen’, and unfortunately he’s spent all this money on research and cases and documents whereas it kind of feels like if you would have gone in and gone to UKAD like others have done and gone, ‘Look, I didn’t take this, I don’t know how it’s got into my system and here’s the proof, the levels, the other tests around it, blah, blah, blah’, they probably would have gone, ‘Alright, two-year ban’, and he probably would have been fighting three months ago.
“So it’s very very frustrating and I think at this stage, not that the fight has been knocked out of him or us, but it’s like, just get on with it. And I don’t think you’re ever going to please everybody, in all honesty. But watch this space over the next four or five weeks and let’s see how it concludes.”