Boxer has egg on his face after fight rival reminds him of failed doping test

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Chris Eubank Jr. smashed an egg into Conor Benn’s face during a staredown between the rival boxers in a chaotic encounter Tuesday to promote their April 26 bout.

The left-handed smack was a not-so-subtle reference to Benn’s failed doping test that derailed their planned fight in 2022. Benn argued successfully that his consumption of eggs elevated his testosterone levels.

It’s been more than 30 years since the boxers’ fathers — Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank — met twice in the ring in one of Britain’s great rivalries.

After Tuesday’s press conference, the sons faced off and exchanged words before Eubank Jr. pulled an egg from his pocket and hit Benn, who had to be restrained by several bulky security guards. Eubank Jr. was also held back as both sides were separated.

The fighters, who will square off in a middleweight bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, later took to social media.

“That’s the only shot you’ll land on me,” the 28-year-old Benn wrote on his X account along with an expletive. “2 rounds you are finished.”

The 35-year-old Eubank Jr. wrote: “Apparently egg contamination was the reason for his two failed drugs tests. So I contaminated him with an egg.” In another post featuring a photo of Benn with egg on his face, he wrote, “Eggcellent.”

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Eddie Hearn, who is Benn’s promoter, called Eubank Jr.'s actions “unacceptable.”

“The world we live in today — it will go viral, people will think it’s quite amusing. But I’ll just tell you one thing — in the fight game, everything changes now about this fight,” he told Sky Sports. “You don’t want to be backstage right now. If you see Nigel Benn tonight, run. These people, they’re not normal people, They don’t go and have a cup of tea and then forget about it and everybody calms down.”

A second press conference that was scheduled for Thursday at Tottenham was now in doubt, Hearn added.

Benn and Eubank Jr. were scheduled to fight at London’s O2 Arena in October 2022 in a catchweight bout, but it was called off after Benn’s voluntary urine test showed trace amounts of fertility drug Clomiphene, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels while burning fat.

Benn, who has a 23-0 record, battled to clear his name and his suspension was lifted in November last year.

The WBC in February 2023 cleared Benn of intentional doping, saying the boxer’s consumption of eggs presented a “reasonable explanation” for his failed test.

The WBC said in its ruling: “Mr. Benn’s documented and highly elevated consumption of eggs during the times relevant to the sample collection raised a reasonable explanation for the adverse finding.” The sanctioning body said there was “no conclusive evidence that Mr. Benn engaged in intentional or knowing ingestion of Clomiphene.”

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing