By: Sean Crose
We all laughed. It seems very easy to. Now, however, it seems we laughed unfairly. After the WBC ruled that Welterweight Conor Benn would not be held responsible for a positive drug test result because he may have eaten too many eggs, laughter could be heard all over the internet. . According to WBC: “Mr. Benn’s extensive and well-documented egg consumption in relation to sample collection provides a plausible explanation for Adverse Findings.” Again, it’s easy to laugh. Perhaps, we learned, too easily.
“WBC has declared me innocent for drug fraud,” Benn tweeted earlier this week. “I am very grateful for the final discovery. It was the right decision and the only one I am willing to accept.” However, the fighter clearly shows he has concerns. “My only disappointment,” he said, “is that the way I was exonerated seems to create more questions and fuel unfounded negative speculation. So now that I have had the opportunity to understand better, I would like to fully state my position and explain in the simplest terms possible why I am innocent.”
Benn continued to focus on the WBC ruling. “I feel like the WBC statement was detrimental to my defense,” he stated, “based on a comprehensive scientific review of the experimental procedures, giving a number of reasons at why we believe the results are completely unreliable, and have proven beyond all reasonable doubt that I am innocent.” Somewhat surprised, Benn went on to argue that there were never drugs in his system.
“However, let me be completely clear;” Benn wrote, “My defense is not a technical defense to exploit a loophole. I believe this substance was never in my system and I certainly never intentionally ingested it. I was told it was supposed to stay in the body for months, but just a week after failing the VADA test, I passed the UKAD test.”
Benn pointed out that he was specifically removed from the British Boxing Control Board, which made it necessary to separate himself from the WBC following the WBC ruling on Benn. Benn said: “As for BBBofC, they attacked me publicly and privately during the most difficult time of my life, treating me with utter contempt and without any consideration. any due process or my state of mind”. Benn ended his lengthy statement by admitting that many, if not most, would not believe his excuses.
“I know that many people will not even bother reading this entire statement,” he wrote, “and continue to make their hasty judgments without thinking. There’s nothing I can do to change that, but I’m comfortable with what I know to be true and proven by the evidence: I’m innocent.”
And the truth is, none of us know if he has or not.
This will prevent us from making easy jokes without knowing all the facts surrounding a situation next time.
