The most anticipated victory of recent years has turned into British boxing’s biggest nightmare in just a few days. Conor Benn beat Chris Eubank Jr. last October in an epic match, sold as a showdown between two dynasties, but now that triumph is reduced to waste: Benn tested positive for cocaine in a test taken immediately after the fight. The result of the test, made public yesterday by UKAD (United Kingdom Anti-Doping), has sparked a storm that threatens to overwhelm not only the 28-year-old from Ilford, but the entire system of voluntary controls that allowed this clash.
To make the situation even more explosive, Oleksandr Usyk, the undisputed heavyweight champion, intervened and did not use half measures in an interview given yesterday to TalkSport: «Conor Benn cheated by using steroids. Cocaine is not just a recreational drug: it increases aggression, resistance to pain and often hides anabolic cycles. He is a traitor to sport. Anyone who uses these things doesn’t deserve to get into the ring, they put their opponent’s life in danger. In my world, anyone who does this is not a boxer: he is a criminal.”
Usyk added the precise reason for his accusation: «I saw the match. Benn had unnatural stamina, hit harder than usual, and didn’t feel Eubank Jr.’s shots as well as he should. Cocaine gives you that artificial “fire,” and users often hide steroids to maintain muscle mass. It’s happened too many times. Anyone who cheats like this should be banned for life.”
“It’s an absolute disgrace,” thundered Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, visibly furious at the press conference. “We have always believed in his innocence, but these results… are devastating.” Words that sound like goodbye. On the other hand, John Fury – Tyson’s father and never tender voice – didn’t mince words: “It’s a total scam. That boy risked Eubank Jr.’s life and spat on his father Nigel’s name. Criminal.”
The British Boxing Board of Control has already opened a formal investigation. Benn risks a disqualification of up to four years, if not life, and the immediate revocation of the victory. But the reputational damage seems irreparable.
Collective anger erupted on social media and in boxing forums. “Fourteen different supplements,” wrote a user posting the list of products declared by Benn, “and cocaine stands out among them. But do they really still believe in the tales of contamination?” Another comment, among the most shared: “Cocaine doesn’t make you win rounds, but it makes you more aggressive, more resistant to pain. It’s a huge unfair advantage in a sport where you risk your life.”
Chris Eubank Jr., who entered the ring as an underdog and came out with a swollen face, broke the silence on Instagram with a single sentence: “The real winner is he who fights clean. The rest is just an illusion.”
The shadow of doping especially affected the VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) system, which had managed the pre-match checks. “If an athlete can test positive the day after the fight,” commented a former British champion, “it means that voluntary tests are worth less than the paper they are written on. We need mandatory, independent testing before and after every titled match.”
Her father, 90s legend Nigel Benn, has not yet spoken publicly. But sources close to the family say he is “devastated”. “He raised Conor on bread and discipline,” says an old friend, “and now he sees his last name tarnished forever.”
In the world of boxing the most repeated word is “shame”. Shame for a victory that seemed destined to go down in history and instead has already become synonymous with fraud. Shame on a system that allows a positive athlete to enter the ring anyway. Shame on a young talent who had everything – speed, power, charisma – and chose the stupidest shortcut.
“Boxing is intelligence, instinct, heart,” a former world champion wrote on X. “Drugs give you muscles and aggression, but they don’t teach you to dodge a hook or read your opponent. A cheater is not a boxer: he’s just a coward with gloves.”
Conor Benn is silent for now. His phone is turned off, his gym closed to journalists. But one question hovers over the whole of the United Kingdom: can an athlete return after such a stain? Can the public forgive those who risked knocking out not only a rival, but the entire credibility of a sport?
For many – and now also for Oleksandr Usyk, the king of heavyweights – the answer is only one: no.
The win over Eubank Jr. will be in the books, but with a fist-sized asterisk. And for Conor Benn, the “Destroyer”, the hardest knockout of his career could be the one he inflicted on himself.
British boxing is crying. And this time it is not because of a controversial verdict, but because of a betrayed trust.