Savannah Marshall: Conor Benn has right to ‘fair trial’ after adverse drug finding

Marshall will headline at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night, just as Benn was scheduled to last week

Savannah Marshall has said Conor Benn has the ‘right to a fair trial’ after he returned an adverse drug test result ahead of his planned fight with Chris Eubank Jr.

Marshall will headline at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night, just as Benn was scheduled to last week before it was revealed that he had returned a test result with traces of the fertility drug clomifene.

The 26-year-old’s 157lbs catchweight bout against Eubank Jr was subsequently called off, and the pair’s fellow Briton Marshall – who faces American Claressa Shields on Saturday – has said Benn should get the chance to clear his name.

“One hundred per cent, yeah,” the Hartlepool fighter told the Daily Mail. “You don’t know the ins and outs, and you don’t know what’s gone on. He’s saying he’s clean, so he’s got the right to a fair trial.”

Benn has maintained his innocence since it was revealed that he had returned an adverse result during a drug test by Vada (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association).

“Put it this way,” Marshall said. “I’m enrolled on the Vada programme, and for the past three months I’ve been getting tested randomly at least once every week.

“I think Vada are brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, when they’re knocking at my door at 7 in the morning, they’re getting snarls and scowls off me. But I think the way their programme is set up, how professional it is, I think Vada is the best out there.

The clash between Chris Eubank Jr (left) and Conor Benn has been postponed (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)

“No one is guilty until they are proven guilty, and until Conor has his day in court… that’s to be said. But I have faith in Vada, I think they do a really good job.”

WBO middleweight title holder Marshall will look to become undisputed champion this weekend as she takes on WBA, WBC and IBF title holder Shields.

Both women are unbeaten as professionals, though Marshall, 31, defeated Shields, 27, during the pair’s amateur careers.