Conor Benn may have become something of a pariah after he flunked a drug test that nixed a highly anticipated fight against Chris Eubank Jr, but as far as the WBC is concerned Benn has a justifiable excuse for testing positive for Clomiphene: he just ate way too many eggs.
The sanctioning body would specifically state that a “highly elevated consumption of eggs” was a reasonable explanation for the adverse finding, which caused the British Boxing Board of Control to pull the plug on the Eubank fight.
Here are some excerpts of the WBC’s official statement on their findings.
“Mr. Benn denied at all times the intentional or knowingly ingestion of any banned substances. His defense against the Adverse Finding centered on allegations of potential laboratory analysis failures and irregularities in connection with the analysis of his samples and of the results of the samples’ testing.
“The WBC consulted several experts in anti-doping laboratory analysis, including an expert consultant with over 30 years of experience in WADA and IOC accredited laboratory settings. The WBC concluded that there was absolutely no fault attributable to the laboratory that analyzed Mr. Benn’s samples. Further, the WBC reaffirms the unquestionable integrity of VADA and the sample collection agencies and laboratories which services VADA uses in connection with the WBC CBP.
“It was not until early January of 2023, that the WBC Results Management Unit was able to undertake the full, substantive analysis of Mr. Benn`s arguments and defenses. On January 26, 2023, members of the WBC Results Management Unit held an inquiry session with Mr. Benn and members of his legal team. In early February of 2023, Mr. Benn’s team for the first time provided a detailed breakdown of Mr. Benn’s diet and supplement consumption that could have directly affected the Adverse Finding.
“The WBC availed itself of the services of an expert nutritionist. The WBC experts provided information about the characteristics of the substance at issue in this case and examples of similar adverse findings in several sports, under a diverse number of anti-doping programs.
“The WBC found that: (1) there was no conclusive evidence that Mr. Benn engaged in intentional or knowing ingestion of Clomiphene; (2) 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 (3) 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 sanctioning body would continue on to state that their nutritional committee will work with Benn in the future to avoid the risks of future adverse findings.
But while Benn’s situation as far as the WBC may be resolved, the BBBofC have maintained the WBC’s ruling has no bearing on their stance on the matter nor its application of UK Anti-Doping rules. That may prevent Benn from fighting in the UK for now, but he’ll have options to fight elsewhere.