Eddie Hearn has declared he won't be moving to a different governing body in order to drag Saturday night's fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn over the line.
The huge pay-per-view clash is set for to take place in front of a sold-out crowd at The O2 arena in London this weekend, and a cancellation would be disastrous for broadcaster DAZN. But the British Boxing Board of Control have banned the bout from taking place after Benn had an adverse finding flagged in one of his drug tests ahead of the event.
Both Hearn and co-promoter Kalle Sauerland are desperate to make the fight happen, as are both fighters, but they are running out of options and times to make it a reality. And now the Matchroom Boxing boss has insisted that they won't be going to a foreign governing body to make the fight happen if the BBBoC refuse to change their stance.
"Let’s see what today brings," Hearn wrote in a statement this afternoon on Twitter. "But to make one thing clear, I will not be promoting this fight with a foreign commission or alternative governing body on Saturday night."
Reports had emerged this morning that promoters were tabling a number of options to make the fight happen, including the possibility of going with a foreign governing body. It is believed that as many as three have been mentioned, after precedent was set in 2012 when Derek Chisora and David Haye fought under the Luxembourg Boxing Federation.
A statement from the BBBoC, who have otherwise been relatively quiet over the past few days, read: "On the evening of October 4, 2022, the Board of the British Boxing Board of Control Limited resolved that the contest between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn scheduled to take place on October 8, 2022 is prohibited as it is not in the interests of boxing. That was communicated to the boxers and promoters involved on the morning of October 5, 2022."
Benn, 26, tested positive for clomifene, a substance found in medication used to treat infertile women but which can also boost testosterone in men, although he has passed UK Anti-Doping control tests after the date of his positive result. And both sides have agreed to take part in the fight should a solution be found in the next few hours.
Do you believe that Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn should go ahead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"I wanted to say this personally," Benn told the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel yesterday. "Obviously you guys have read what the Daily Mail have published about me today and I want you to hear it from me personally rather than reading it in a statement from me and my team; I've not committed any violations and I've not been suspended.
"As far as I'm concerned, the fight is still going ahead. I've spoken to Chris personally and we both want the fight to go ahead. We've both taken medical and legal advice and we want the fight to happen for the fans. I've signed up to every voluntary anti-doping test there is under the sun throughout my whole career.
"All of my UKAD tests have come back negative throughout my whole career, I've never had any issues before. Even in the lead-up to this fight my tests have come up negative so my team will find out why there's been an initial adverse finding in my test and as far as I'm concerned the fight is still going ahead.
"I'm a clean athlete and we'll get to the bottom of this. I just want to thank everyone for their continued support and I'll see you all on Saturday. He [Eubank Jr] fully believes in me and it's not who I am, it's not what I'm about. I'm a professional athlete and he was understanding - we both want the fight to go ahead and as far as we're concerned the fight is going ahead."
