Chris Eubank Jr has said he doesn’t ‘have any words’ after sharing an old clip of Conor Benn reacting to a high-profile failed drug test in boxing, a day after the Britons’ bout was postponed due to an adverse finding in Benn’s own pre-fight testing.
Benn, 26, and Eubank Jr, 33, were scheduled to meet in a 157lbs catchweight contest at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, but the former returned a test result with traces of the fertility drug clomifene, leading the main event to be called off.
Benn has maintained his innocence, while Eubank Jr has claimed that his opponent has “escaped his schooling... for now”. Eubank Jr has now also tweeted a clip from 2019, in which Benn reacted to the failed drug test that saw Jarrell Miller pulled from his planned fight with Anthony Joshua.
With Miller failing numerous drug tests ahead of that fight, Benn told Sky Sports at the time: “I can’t believe it. Biggest night of your life, biggest fight of your career, and you get tested positive for a banned substance? It baffles me.
“Think, I’m not even at world level, and my nutritionist has a go at me for taking Vitamin C tablets if they’ve not been tested. So, the team he’s got around him should say, ‘Listen, check all your substances. You’re earning a few good quid here, and why put that to risk?’”
As a caption to the video, Eubank Jr wrote: “I mean I really just don’t have any words at this point.”
Benn has maintained his innocence since returning the adverse finding and said after the fight was postponed: “I am truly gutted that we were unable to make this fight happen on Saturday and I’m sorry to everyone who has been affected by the postponement. I am still completely shocked and surprised by this and it has been a tough couple of days.
“My team and I will consider the next options including rescheduling the fight, but my immediate focus is on clearing my name because I am a clean athlete!”
Saturday’s main event was set to see Benn move up two weight classes, while Eubank Jr was due to cut three pounds more than usual.
The fight was scheduled to take place almost exactly 29 years to the day after the pair’s fathers, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, rounded out one of the most storied rivalries in British boxing history. Their rematch in 1993 ended as a draw, three years after Eubank had stopped Benn in the ninth round of the fighters’ first clash.
