Eddie Hearn hopes Conor Benn can start planning his UK comeback soon

Benn is currently suspended for failing two voluntary doping tests in preparation for his fight against Chris Eubank Jr. in October 2022, which led to the cancellation of the all-British showdown.

The undefeated 27-year-old blames contamination for the presence of the banned substance clomiphene in his samples. However, in May the British Anti-Doping Agency and the British Boxing Board of Control successfully appealed an independent tribunal's decision to overturn his ban.

Aside from his wins over Rodolfo Orozco a year ago and Peter Dobson in February – both in the US – Benn has been inactive, but Hearn hopes he can soon start planning his comeback in the UK.

“Conor is in talks with his lawyers, the British Boxing Board of Control and UKAD. We will know more about how this will turn out in early October,” said Matchroom promoter Hearn.

“We've had a lot of questions about why he doesn't just accept a two-year ban. But to Conor's detriment, he never wanted to accept a ban because he believes in his innocence. He never wanted to make a deal and it cost him time.

“If he had gone to UKAD and said, 'I didn't take this, here's the evidence of how it got into my body, the levels and other tests on it,' they probably would have said, 'Okay, two years ban' and he would have fought a few months ago.

“It's very frustrating. At this point, neither he nor we have lost our fighting spirit, but we just have to keep going.

“I hope they will have some sensible discussions now because it's been over two years since this happened.

“We want a date because it's really difficult to plan. If there's a solution, I can book the fight and make sure it happens.”

“The uncertainty is the biggest frustration for us and we hope that this will end in the next few months.”

Hearn considers Benn, the son of British middleweight star Nigel, to be British boxing's biggest crowd-puller alongside Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and sees him as the headliner at Wembley.

When he gets the green light to fight again, he will only have one opponent on his mind.

“Our instructions from Conor are clear – our next fight is the biggest fight we can do. That fight is Eubank,” Hearn said.

“When his fight against Eubank is announced and preparations begin, it will be an absolute monster.”