Conor Benn has taken aim at both the WBC and the British Boxing Board of Control in an explosive statement released on social media.
Benn, 26, was last week cleared by the WBC over his failed drugs test that scuppered his much anticipated catchweight bout with Chris Eubank Jnr last year. The son of former world champion Nigel tested positive for the substance clomiphene, but the authority ruled that a 'highly-elevated consumption of eggs' had caused the adverse reading.
Stating there was "no conclusive evidence" that Benn had knowingly ingested in the substance, the authority also said: "There were no failures in the procedures related to sample collection, sample analysis, or violations of Mr. Benn's B Sample rights that would justify questioning or invalidating the Adverse Finding; and Mr. Benn's documented and highly-elevated consumption of eggs during the times relevant to the sample collection, raised a reasonable explanation for the Adverse Finding."
The boxer himself has issued a stinging riposte though. Declaring himself "grateful" for the eventual finding, he said his reputation and family name deterred him from taking the easy option of a ban and no legal costs, and vented frustration at the ambiguity of the WBC statement.
"My only frustration is the manner in which I’ve been cleared has seemed to create further questions and further fuel to baseless negative speculation," he wrote. "As such, having now had a chance to digest, I wanted to set out my position in full and explain in the simplest terms possibly why I am innocent.
"As you will have gathered from my posts and comments over the past few months, I have always been extremely confident that I would be cleared. This is because all of the evidence and information that came to light during our investigation into how this happened proves what I already knew - that I am innocent. However, because of ongoing legal proceedings I have been repeatedly advised not to say anything. Keeping silent when I have this evidence in my possession and listening to ignorant uninformed commentary was one of the hardest parts of this process."
Adding he wanted to "let the facts be known," Benn continued: "In my defence to the WBC and the 270 page report provided to them, at no point did I indicate that I failed any VADA tests because of contaminated eggs. As part of its lengthy investigation, the WBC instructed its own experts to revise my supplements and diet, and they concluded that egg contamination was the most likely cause.
"Those experts have seen this issue arise in elite athletes across other sports, and I have no reason to question their analysis when it concludes I am not a cheat. However, I feel like the WBC statement did a disservice to my defence which was based upon a comprehensive scientific review of the testing procedures, which set out a number of reasons why we believed the results were completely unreliable, and proved beyond any reasonable doubt that I am innocent.
"The report prepared by my science and legal team contained extensive analysis of both tests and concluded that there was clear evidence of fundamental flaws and irregularities. By way of just one example, my sample appears to have come back clear the first three times it was tested. Without explanation, it was retested again after 9 days and only then did it show a trace positive result. It should only have been tested once!"
The WBA Continental welterweight title holder also insisted he was not exploiting a loophole, but was "convinced" that clomiphene had never been in his system: "I am told it’s something that supposedly stays in the body for months, and yet barely a week after failing a VADA test, I passed a UK test." he added.
"I have never previously failed any kind of anti-doping test, and passed multiple tests with both UKAD and VADA in close proximity to the two tests that returned adverse findings. This adds further proof to my belief that the findings were testing errors. Even if it was actually in my system, it was at such a low level that it could never have had an effect, and could never have been consumed with the intention of having an effect."
Benn added his focus was now on rebuilding his career, and thanked people for their patience and support. He also chastised the BBBoC who he said attacked him "publicly and privately," and promised to return to the ring with extra mental strength because of the issue. He followed the statement by tweeting: "I’m not no saint….I ain’t perfect….I’m human. But I have never been a cheat!!"
The Mirror has contacted the WBC, BBBoC, and VADA for comment.
