(CNN)Conor Benn's scheduled fight with Chris Eubank Jr. last year was meant to be career defining for both men.
Except the fight never took place and now Benn says the fallout of its cancellation has raised serious questions about boxing's drugs testing protocols.
The two were scheduled to take to their ring almost exactly 30 years after their fathers had in two fights that gripped a generation of boxing fans. Benn and Eubank Jr. were fighting for more than just glory. This was a fight for family honor.
But on the eve of the bout, news of Benn failing a drugs test came to light. The bout was called off after Benn tested positive for clomiphene, a fertility drug used by women who struggle to ovulate.
Benn repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and in February 2023, the World Boxing Council (WBC) issued a statement clearing Benn of wrongdoing, stating that while his urine test indicated the presence of prohibited substances, his "highly-elevated consumption of eggs" prior to testing offered a "reasonable explanation" for his failed test.
Despite welcoming the news that he could return to the sport, the 26-year-old Benn has criticized the investigation and expressed his concerns about the transparency of the process, in particular leveling criticism at the WBC and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), the governing body for professional boxing in Great Britain.
In a statement posted on his Instagram story last week, Benn said that "the manner in which I've been cleared has seemed to create further questions and add further fuel to baseless negative speculation."
CNN has contacted the WBC and BBBofC for comment.
Cancellation
According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), clomiphene in men can potentially boost testosterone levels "by interfering with the negative feedback loop of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis." The drug is also included on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list under anti-estrogenic substances.
Benn began his statement on Instagram addr