Boxing's Series of Unfortunate Events: Part 2 - Benn v Eubank Jr Edition

Now let’s talk about the most demoralising part of this last month. This one has been so bad that it gets its own article (you can find part 1 here: https://guywholikessport.wixsite.com/guywholikessport/post/boxing-s-series-of-unfortunate-events-part-1). The Connor Benn v Chris Eubank Jr debacle. This fight is a big fight in Britain, in large part because of the surnames of the fighters. The fathers of Connor and Chris, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr fought two extraordinary fights in the 1990s in Britain. This fight was looking to continue that legacy, even despite Eubank being a mediocre middleweight and Benn being a talented but raw up and comer.

It was a huge fight in Britain with promoters saying that it will go near to or even surpass.1 million PPV buys – a rarity in boxing nowadays.

Then it all fell apart.

Before we get to the fall, let’s start with the structure of the bout. Eubank Jr has fought virtually his whole career as either a middleweight or a super middleweight. He is average and has never won a big fight. For reference, the middleweight limit is 160 pounds and the super middleweight limit is 168 pounds. Benn on the other hand is a welterweight, which has a 147 pound limit.

Eubank was desperate for this bout, so much so that he agreed to come down to 157 pounds at 33 years old. That is not the key issue, given that Benn was also coming up a long way in weight.

The issue was, instead, that Benn insisted on a rehydration clause which meant that Eubank had to come into the ring at 160 pounds on fight night. When he was fighting at middleweight, Eubank would often be in the ring at about 170 pounds. Fighters deplete their bodies to make weight but then replenish themselves after the weigh in. Not allowing that replenishment is potentially incredibly dangerous, especially for an older fighter.

Also agreed to was Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) testing. VADA is the rolls-royce of testing because they can do isotope testing, which the national testing agencies like UKAD, USADA or ASADA can’t do because it is too expensive. VADA testing is relatively rare in boxing because the fighter have to pay for the testing themselves.

Against that backdrop comes the crumbling.

Benn tested positive for Clomifene. This is a fertility drug taken by women. When taken by men, it’s effectively a testosterone booster. Brock Lesnar tested positive for this drug. There is no way, as far as I can tell, to take the drug by accident. It is a pill.

Connor Benn obviously cheated.

Here’s the rub. Benn tested positive in early September. A month before the fight. Both sides knew about the positive test and agreed to sweep it under the rug and the fight would go ahead.

So we know where we are, let’s recap. We have an older, weight-drained, mediocre fighter with a famous father fighting a steroid cheat who has shown in previous fights almost supernatural power. And we knew all of this. And we were fine with it.

About a week out from the fight, the Daily Mail reports the positive test. So fight off immediately right? The cat is out of the bag? You can’t have a drug cheat go in there and tee off on a guy who is already more susceptible to a brain injury because of the weight issues? Especially given the burden Chris Eubank Sr has lived with after paralysing Michael Watson in their 1991 bout due to the head trauma inflicted. Watson is now relatively okay but he spent a year in intensive care and was wheelchair bound for 6 years. The fact that Watson can speak and write is borderline miraculous. Surely now the fight is off?

Well let’s head over to Eddie Hearn who is now cancelling the fights. Wait. No he’s not. Even after Patrick Day died on one of Hearn’s cards only 3 years ago, again, due to head trauma. Hearn says, instead, "well Benn passed all of his UKAD tests. He’s only dirty according to VADA so the fight is still on."

Hearn himself knows full well that VADA is the only good testing in boxing. He said it himself when Billy Joe Saunders tested positive before his fight with Demetrius Andrade in 2018 on a Hearn card. Hearn himself said “What is the point of signing up for drug testing if, when you fail, everyone says, ‘Oh don’t worry about it, just let him fight’?" Agreed Edward.

What is the point?

Eventually cooler heads prevailed and the fight was postponed, obviously. But what if the Daily Mail hadn’t reported Benn’s positive test? Everyone involved with the fight would have known that Benn was dirty and wouldn’t have cared. What if Eubank got seriously hurt? Who’s at fault? Everyone.

Unsurprisingly, Chris Eubank Sr removed himself from the lead up to the fight. Obviously he knew Benn was dirty and he also knew, more than anyone, how dangerous this sport is. He has seen it first-hand. He has lived with what he did to Michael Watson for his whole life and has spoken often of the guilt he feels after the long-term paralysis of Watson.

Boxing is a dirty game, but this Benn issue is perhaps the ugliest boxing has been for many years.