British boxer Conor Benn has targeted the World Boxing Council after being cleared of doping charges last week. Benn claims the WBC did him a “disservice” by claiming he failed drug tests as a result of eating too many eggs.
On February 22, the WBC released its decision clearing Benn of doping, noting that traces of clomiphene and its metabolites found in Benn’s sample could have been caused by eating a large amount of eggs.
“Mr. Benn’s documented and highly elevated consumption of eggs during the periods relevant to sample collection provided a reasonable explanation for the adverse finding,” the WBC decision said.
Benn was allowed to return to the WBC welterweight ranks after the investigation, but the boxer is still upset with how the organization handled the situation. In a lengthy statement posted on social media, Ben said he never admitted he failed a test because he only came back positive after he had already been tested several times.
“In my defense to the WBC and in the 270-page report provided to them, at no point did I indicate that I failed any VADA test because of contaminated eggs,” Benn said. “I feel the WBC statement hurt my defense.
“As part of their lengthy investigation, the WBC instructed their own experts to review my supplements and diet and concluded that egg contamination was the most likely cause.
“My sample seems to have come back clear the first three times it was tested. Without explanation, it was tested again after nine days and only then did it show a trace of a positive result.”
Ben also called out the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) for attacking him “publicly and privately” throughout the process. He claimed the BBofC treated him “with utter contempt and without any regard for due process or my state of mind”.
Benn was due to face Chris Eubank Jr in October, but their fight was called off after Benn’s test result in August appeared suspicious to the British Boxing Board of Control. This was going to be an interesting fight as their fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, were known rivals during their time as active boxers.
Benn’s initial test sample “gave an adverse analytical finding for clomiphene and its hydroxymetabolites MI and M2.” Clomiphene and its metabolites are banned substances at all times in the WBC Clean Boxing program because they increase testosterone production and boost testosterone levels.
Members of the WBC Performance Management Unit held an investigative meeting with Benn and members of his legal team on January 26. The boxer maintained his innocence the entire time.
“We have never cut corners or cheated in any way,” Benn wrote in a statement in December. “… It was very hard for me to accept that people think I would do what I was accused of.”
The WBC spoke with an expert nutritionist about the research, and the nutrition committee will work with Benn’s team in the future to design a nutritional plan to help avoid future adverse findings, the decision states. The eggs Ben said he consumed could have been contaminated, so the council said they would also “establish a line of communication with WADA regarding the WBC’s concern about clomiphene as a food contaminant and the potential for false positives caused by ingestion of contaminated food. “
This would not be the first case of contaminated food in boxing. In 2018, Canelo Alvarez had two positive test results for clenbuterol after eating contaminated meat.