Chris Eubank Jr has revealed that he was never made aware of Conor Benn’s first failed drug test in July.
The pair signed to fight in August, and the event built up considerable hype before being pulled at the very last minute following news of Benn having a banned substance in his system. That was from a September Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency test, however he later revealed that they also found the same substance present back in July.
It’s this earlier test that Eubank Jr claims he was never informed of. He told Sky Sports that he wouldn’t have signed to fight Benn had he been up to date on the doping drama.
“There’s no forgetting, absolutely not. Forgiveness, no, I don’t need to have that in my mind.”
“I was never told about the first failed drugs test, which is pretty incredible but true. Nobody told me. I wouldn’t have accepted the fight in August if I’d known he’d failed a test before and by the time I did find out it was too late. It was a very bad situation for me, for boxing, for the fans.”
The Brighton man went on to say that he feels the public have already made their minds up on his almost-opponent, despite the results of an investigation not yet announced.
“I feel bad for the kid, he’s really messed up and he’s going to have to answer for his wrongdoings eventually. I know he’s gone MIA for the last few months. He was on Instagram and Twitter every single day for the last however long and now no one knows where he is.”
“What’s happened has happened. It’s been out there for too long, too many people think that he cheated. He has to accept that and that’s the only way he’s going to be able to move forward.”
“Even if it is proven to be a mistake and he is innocent, he’s still guilty in the eyes of the public. That’s just how the world works unfortunately. Once you’ve been branded you can’t ever get away from that.”
Eubank Jr returns to the ring against Liam Smith on January 21 – almost one year since his last outing against Liam Williams in Cardiff.