CONOR BENN has given up his boxing licence with the British Boxing Board of Control finding him guilty of misconduct after failing a drugs test prior to his postponed fight with rival Chris Eubank Jr.
The 25-year-old failed a drugs test ahead of the scheduled early October fight, with traces of a female fertility drug were found in his system.
He returned an adverse finding for clomifene, which is commonly used as medication to treat infertility in women who do not ovulate.
But it can also increase testosterone levels in men, which is why it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list.
The BBBoC stepped in and declared the scrap is prohibited under their sanctioning, despite BOTH Benn and Eubank Jr wanting to continue with the bout.
Benn insisted he was a "clean athlete" in the aftermath of the drugs scandal and vowed to clear his name.
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Benn hits back ‘I’m clean’ after failed drugs test KO’d Eubank Jr bout
But prior to a hearing, Benn "voluntarily relinquished" his licence with the BBBofC and the allegations of misconduct were upheld.
An official statement read: "By a notice dated 17th October 2022, Mr. Conor Benn was called by the Board of the BBBofC to attend a hearing dealing with allegations of misconduct pursuant to Rule 25.1.1.
"The hearing took place on 21st October 2022.
"On the morning of the hearing, Mr. Benn voluntarily relinquished his licence with the BBBofC.
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"In accordance with its Rules and Regulations, the Board determined the allegations following the hearing at which Mr. Benn was legally represented.
"The allegations of misconduct against Mr. Benn were upheld."
Matchroom chief Eddied Hearn accused the BBBofC of leaking the results of Benn's failed drugs test to the press before giving the fighter a chance to clear his name.
Hearn says they "sat on the results" and "leaked them to the press".
Speaking to TalkSPORT, Hearn said: "Firstly, nothing was kept quiet. This is a really important fact. People feel this was brushed under the carpet.
"But, the British boxing board of control which are our governing body and the regulators – who decide if a fight will take place or not – knew all information at all points.
"All information around the test will be released by Conor Benn in due course. It's very important for us. We were faced with a decision a couple of weeks before the fight to receive this information from VADA.
"Understand as well, the British boxing board of control have their own regulatory testing board which is UKAD. We pay for additional testing to keep the sport as safe as possible – which is VADA.
"VADA is not recognised by the British boxing board of control. One of the problems around this is that VADA is a reporting agency. So VADA will report to the athletes.
"That was at the request of Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn. They said they would like additional testing for this bout.
"When we received the information, that came back to Matchroom, to Conor Benn, to Wasserman (which is Chris Eubank Jr's promoter), to Chris Eubank Jr and the British Boxing Board of Control.
"So, everyone knew about the results at the same time. From there, we had a decision to make. We spoke to Kalle Sauerland, Chris Eubank, Conor Benn and the British Boxing Board of Control.
"We said, look we have a situation here. From that moment medical advice and specialist advice was taken from those results.
"Kalle Sauerland and Wasserman did their own research on that information and at the point in time Chris Eubank Jr had the right to terminate the fight.
"However, it is ultimately up to the British Boxing Board of Control to sanction the fight. Chris Eubank and Wasserman came back and said, based on the information we have received around the test, we are happy to continue with the fight.
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"We had a similar situation with Dillian Whyte. He had a hearing before his fight. UKAD cleared him to fight. He had a hearing and he got cleared.
"Conor Benn never had a chance to have a hearing before the fight. They just sat on it and leaked it to the press and went from there."
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