A boxing promoter's standpoint on drugs comes back to haunt him as his fighter tests positive

• A boxing mega fight Saturday was thrown into disarray after Conor Benn tested positive for a drug.
• Promoter Eddie Hearn's former standpoint on the issue has come back to haunt him.

One of the weekend's biggest combat sports events was thrown into disarray earlier this week when a British publication broke the news that a fighter tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug (PED).

The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) found the fertility drug Clomifene in Conor Benn's system from a sample tested last month, according to the Daily Mail. Clomifene can be used to raise testosterone levels and is outlawed in sports.

All parties — from Benn's representative Eddie Hearn at Matchroom to the opponent Chris Eubank Jr. and his promoter Kalle Sauerland — knew about the test at the time, The Times reported Thursday in its newspaper edition.

So, too, did the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC), which regulates the sport in the UK and was overseeing Saturday's showdown at London's 02 Arena.

Nothing was seemingly done back then, but the Daily Mail's reporting earlier this week seemed to change everything.

With that test becoming public knowledge and the outcry that followed, the event was thrown into chaos, and the BBBoC suddenly outlawed the 157-pound catchweight fight — much to Hearn and Sauerland's chagrin.

In a statement Tuesday, the BBBoC said: "The Eubank vs. Benn fight is prohibited as it is not in the interests of boxing."

—BBBofC (@BBBofCuk) October 5, 2022

In a statement sent Wednesday to Insider, Matchroom said "no rule violation has been confirmed" because only an A-sample had "returned an adverse analytical finding" and the "B-sample has yet to be tested."

For Matchroom, Benn "is not suspended, and he remains free to fight."

Matchroom was happy for the fight to proceed despite the positive test

The promoter pointed to the United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) agency as Benn had been posting negative tests with that organization rather than accepting VADA's findings.

Despite the discovery of Clomifene, Matchroom said both fighters were happy to proceed with the event, and all parties wished to continue, too.

On Thursday, though, Matchroom and Eubank's team Wasserman Boxing distributed a belated statement that the show could not go on even though they had threatened to take the BBBoC to court.

Matchroom said in a statement sent to Insider: "We have taken the decision to formally postpone the bout."

It added: "It is undeniable that the BBBoC's decision to withdraw their sanctioning was procedurally flawed and without due process. That remains a legal issue between the promoters and the Board, which we intend to pursue."

Hearn and Matchroom's position is a contrast to the promoter's previous stand on drugs

Hearn's stance on drugs seems to have softened now it has hit closer to home.

As reported by The Guardian, Hearn previously said of positive tests discovered by VADA: "What is the point in signing up for drug testing if, when you fail, everyone just goes: 'Oh, don't worry about it. Just let him fight'.

"The argument that it's all right with UKAD is totally irrelevant," said Hearn in the past. "You've signed drug-testing for VADA, the best testing agency, in my opinion, in the sport."

This week, Hearn has pretty much said the opposite.

Insider requested comment regarding the details of this story from representatives of Hearn at Matchroom but, as of Thursday, is yet to receive a response.