Conor Benn ‘voluntarily relinquishes’ his boxing licence after being found guilty of misconduct

Conor Benn has ‘voluntarily relinquished’ his boxing licence, according to the British Boxing Board of Control.

Sportsmail broke the bombshell news that Benn had tested positive for the banned substance clomifene, prompting the British Boxing Board of Control to call off the showdown at The O2 on October 8 ‘in the interests of boxing’.  

Clomifene is designed primarily to aid women in fertility, but is also known to provide steroid boosts for muscle development and rapid recovery from training among other benefits.

Conor Benn (R) failed a drugs test in the build-up to the cancelled clash against Chris Eubank Jr

The 26-year-old was called to a hearing on Friday, before which he ‘relinquished’ his boxing licence and ‘allegations of misconduct’ were upheld. 

Benn was notified on October 17 of his requirement to face the board and, while he did not attend the hearing, he was legally represented. Benn’s team hit out at the board in a statement on social media.

A statement from the Board read: ‘The hearing took place on 21 October 2022. On the morning of the hearing, Mr Benn voluntarily relinquished his licence with the BBBofC.

‘In accordance with its rules and regulations, the Board determined the allegations following the hearing at which Mr Benn was legally represented.

Benn tested positive for banned substance clomifene in the build-up to the mega-fight 

‘The allegations of misconduct against Mr Benn were upheld.’

UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) is investigating Benn’s test. Benn has consistently denied wrongdoing.

The drugs test was administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada), a third party hired by Eubank Jr and Benn to provide extra testing for their scheduled catchweight fight of 157lb, 30 years after their fathers Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr fought.

If found guilty of an anti-doping violation, Benn could receive a suspension of between two and four years.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has blamed the British Boxing Board of Control for leaking the results

On Wednesday, promoter Eddie Hearn said Benn would be making a statement this week.

Hearn told talkSPORT: ‘In the next, I would think, 48 hours you will see a full statement from Conor Benn around that legal case with his confirmation of all the facts.

‘Conor Benn is straight away presumed guilty without any kind of hearing, because that’s generally the way it works in this situation and sometimes that’s fair, but he’s got the big fight on his hands to try and save his career.’

Hearn alleges the British Boxing Board of Control ‘sat on the results’ and ‘leaked them to the press’ before giving Benn the chance to have a ‘hearing’ and clear his name like Dillian Whyte did in 2019.  

Hearn said they experienced a similar situation with Whyte in the build-up to his points win against Oscar Rivas in 2019. However, Hearn praised UKAD for how they dealt with the situation. 

He said UKAD conducted a confidential investigation into Whyte’s results and gave the Body Snatcher the opportunity to clear his name as a hearing. 

Hearn claims the British Boxing Board of Control denied Benn the same opportunity by leaking his results to the press. 

In a statement posted on social media, Benn’s team said: ‘Conor’s focus at this time is solely clearing his name.

‘The Board, however, have made it extremely difficult for Conor to focus on doing that by its conduct of an unfair and biased procedure.

‘In such circumstances, Conor decided not to renew his licence (which had lapsed). Conor told the Board that if it did not accept his licence had lapsed, then he renounces it.

‘He strongly refutes the allegation of misconduct (which for the avoidance of doubt is *not* in relation to the VADA issue) and firmly believes that an independent tribunal will reach a wholly different conclusion. 

‘At the appropriate time Conor will speak out on this and on the doping allegation, to the extent that he can while legal proceedings are ongoing. In the meantime he reiterates, in no uncertain terms, that he is a clean athlete.’