Conor Benn provides update on hearing verdict on eve of Peter Dobson fight

The Briton is still unable to box in the UK after failing two drug tests in 2022, though that could soon change

Conor Benn has said the final verdict on his ability to box in the UK will be made by the end of February.

Since failing two drug tests in 2022, ahead of a scrapped bout with Chris Eubank Jr, Benn has been banned from boxing on home shores. As a result, he returned to the ring in Florida in September, and he will box Peter Dobson in Las Vegas this weekend.

Last July, the WBC cleared Benn of any wrongdoing and the National Anti-Doping Panel lifted his suspension – a decision that UK Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) soon appealed.

Ahead of Saturday’s fight with Dobson, the 27-year-old has spoken about the BBBofC’s appeal. Of a final verdict on the matter, Benn said on The MMA Hour on Wednesday (31 January): “It will be by the end of Feb. There is no specific date, but it will be done by the end of Feb.

“Even though I’ve been cleared, I think I will box the rest of my career under a different commission. Potentially the PBA (Professional Boxing Association).

“Listen, I pay the board’s wages – for what? Where’s the duty of care for me? I’m not gonna then go and resume the rest of my career and make them money, when they’ve done this to me.”

The unbeaten welterweight also reiterated his desire to reorganise a clash with Eubank Jr, more than 30 years after their fathers concluded their two-fight rivalry.

“We can do that fight whenever,” Benn said. “In the ring, out the ring, we can do it whenever. It’s personal now; he made it personal, because he’s a liar.

Conor Benn in Las Vegas, where he will fight Peter Dobson on Saturday (Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)

“He’s the first person I called and told when this happened. The only thing he was concerned about was: ‘Is the fight still happening?’ That’s the only thing he said to me. Then he claims that I never told him about the test.”

Benn’s decision win over Rodolfo Orozco in September marked his first fight since April 2022. On Saturday, the Briton boxes American Dobson – who is also unbeaten – at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.