Benn's provisional doping suspension lifted

Conor Benn's provisional suspension has been lifted after a two-year battle with UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).

Benn, 28, is an unbeaten welterweight with a 23-0 record, but in 2022 he twice tested positive for a banned substance, women's fertility drug Clomifene, in voluntary drug tests.

His suspension has been withdrawn after Ukad said the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) was "not comfortably satisfied" that it and the Board had proved he had committed an anti-doping rule violation.

Benn says he has been "cleared of any wrongdoing" and has always been "an advocate for clean sport".

"This past 24 months has unquestionably been the toughest fight of my life," Benn wrote in a statement published on X., external

"[It has been} a rollercoaster period within which the WBC had already decided that I was innocent and the NADP decided in the first instance that there was no case to answer and I was free to fight."

Ukad say the "charge against him has been consequently dismissed" however, they are reviewing the decision "in accordance with its appeal rights".

They have 21 days to lodge that appeal.

BBC Sport has contacted the BBBofC for comment.

Ukad added it is "unable to publicly disclose" the full decision of the NADP at this time without Benn's consent.

A key issue at the heart of Benn's case was the drug tests were conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada) and paid for by Benn's promoters Matchroom Boxing, and not by Ukad.

The NADP lifted his ban in July 2023 but he was provisionally suspended again after appeals by Ukad and the BBBofC were upheld in May.

Benn is now free to resume his fighting career in the UK and plans to reschedule a bout with Chris Eubank Jr.

Both fighters' teams are pushing for the contest and the preference is for the fight to take place in the UK, rather than in Saudi Arabia.

Eubank and Benn clashed in the Kingdom last month during the week leading up to Artur Beterbiev's victory over Dmitry Bivol. Benn then joined his rival in the ring after Eubank stopped Kamil Szeremeta.

Eddie Hearn, who promotes Benn, said he expects the fight to happen early in 2025.

"It's the easiest fight in the world to promote," he said.

"The first time we sold out the highest ever gate at the O2 for boxing. It was sold so quickly I can't even tell you. Now, with everything, its three or four times bigger," he said.

"I think you'll see it in February or March 2025. It can land in Riyadh but AJ-Dubois (Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois) was epic for British boxing and this will be too.

"It's always nice to have at least one stadium fight a year. To do that in the first quarter would be encouraging for what might follow."

Benn was initially suspended from boxing in March 2023 after he failed two voluntary tests for clomifene before his cancelled bout with fellow Briton Chris Eubank Jr.

The pair were scheduled to meet on 8 October 2022 at a catchweight of 157lb, around 30 years after their fathers Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr fought. Eubank Sr won the first fight in 1990, while the 1993 rematch was declared a draw.

Clomifene can be used to boost testosterone levels in men, and is banned inside and outside competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

BBBofC general secretary Robert Smith said Benn was provisionally barred from participating in any capacity in a competition organised, convened, authorised or recognised by his organisation.

Benn has always insisted he is innocent of intentionally doping. He has blamed "contamination" for the findings. His defence outlined there was a fault with the Vada testing laboratory.

An independent report by the WBC in February 2023 said his failed drugs test was not intentional and could have been caused by a "highly-elevated consumption" of eggs, but Benn was still under investigation by Ukad and the BBBofC.

NADP lifted the suspension last July and Benn believed he was free to fight in the UK again.

However, appeals made by Ukad and the BBBofC against that decision were upheld in May.

Speaking to BBC Sport in October, promoter Hearn said Benn had been "penalised by his resistance to accept guilt" and that his fighter would be fighting in the UK sooner had he taken a ban handed to him following the failed test.

"For me, knowing and believing he is innocent, to see what he has had to go through over the past two years is pretty brutal," Hearn said.

"Unfortunately because of the way the process has played out, he's ruffled feathers with the authorities and he hasn't played ball.

"They would have liked to tidy the situation up quickly but he wanted to appeal, explore and provide his reasoning and evidence."

Benn has fought twice in the United States with the most recent in February a unanimous points win over Peter Dobson in a welterweight contest in Las Vegas.

Had he accepted guilt and a subsequent ban in the UK, however, it is unlikely American athletic commissions – who tend to side with sanctions handed to fighters by their international counterparts – would have allowed Benn to compete in the country.