Conor Benn Addressed WBC Testing Controversy Saturday

Rising British Welterweight Conor Benn is looking towards a possible world title shot. However, the son of a legend has found himself in a WBC drug testing controversy this week that dropped him from their rankings. Now, Benn says it was all mix up and he will take part in their program.

Benn, 20-0, 13 KOs released a statement to his fans and the media Saturday saying that the WBC decision to drop him out of the top five at 147 lb. would be rectified by next month,

Statement from Conor Benn… pic.twitter.com/GHUECcD2bg

— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) January 22, 2022

“The World Boxing Council (WBC) have temporarily removed me from their January rankings and have requested in order for me to continue being ranked under the WBC governing body I must officially enroll in the WBC clean boxing program supported by VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association). I can confirm I have instructed my team who are now in the process of enrolling me,” the statement read.

“I wanted to address this personally for the boxing community and my fans. It’s important to me as a professional athlete to enrol in a clean testing proramme and play my part in keeping our sport safe along with having my name stated in top five positions across all governing bodies.”

Earlier in the week, the WBC named Benn along with several other fighters that had failed to meet their January deadline to enroll in VADA testing, even outside of their scheduled fights. And, that those fighters, including Chris Billam-Smith, Mario Barrios, Maurico Lara and Lee McGregor, were also being dropped in their weight class rankings.

Benn had been ranked #5 by the World Boxing Council, as he comes off of four wins since November of 2020. That included his devastating fourth round KO of American Chris Algieri in the Matchroom Boxing main event in Liverpool, England, last December.

He also bombed veteran journeyman Sammy Vargas in under one round last April.

Known as “the Destroyer,” Conor Benn is the son of former two division world champ and British boxing hero of the 80s and 90s, Nigel Benn. And, he hopes to be back in the ring with another contender later this Spring.

It’s not likely that Benn will get a world title shot before the end of 2022, but he will be relevant in the rankings if he continues to impressively wipe out opponents.