Editor’s Note: This new version of Junkie Drawer will be the means to report the news of the day in small pieces.
Did Conor Benn simply eat tainted eggs?
The British weightlifter was reinstated by the WBC, which ruled that eating eggs could cause him to fail a drug test before a scheduled bout against rival Chris Eubank Jr. in October last year.
Benn has a small amount of the fertility drug Clomiphene in his system. Clomiphene, which can increase testosterone levels, is apparently sometimes used to increase egg production in hens.
The WBC said in a statement: “Mr. Benn’s extensive and well-documented egg consumption in relation to sample collection provides a plausible explanation for the adverse finding.”
The Benn-Eubank match was canceled and Benn was dropped from the WBC standings. The son of former champion Nigel Benn has been reinstated under the sanctioning agency’s latest ruling.
“The WBC will include Mr. Benn in its rating for the period immediately following the ruling,” the statement read. “Mr. Benn’s place in the WBC Ranking will be based solely on his performance and the usual factors that the WBC Ranking Committee applies to ranked boxers.
Benn also lost his British boxing license after failing the exam. He is said to have yet to retrieve it pending further investigation.
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Ryota Murata, the Japanese 2012 Olympic champion, said he will retire from boxing at the age of 37.
Murata won the middleweight gold medal in the London Olympics to end a long amateur career in which he is credited with a 119-18 record, making him a star in his homeland.
He had a successful professional career, becoming a contender just a few years after his debut.
Murata peaked when the WBA elevated him from “regular” champion to “super” after Canelo Alvarez vacated the sanctioning body’s actual championship.
Tokyo residents tried to unify but were stopped by Gennadiy Golovkin for nine innings last April in Saitama. It was his most recent fight.
“In my head I was thinking, ‘That’s my last time [fight],” Murata said, according to Kyodo News. “I just can’t announce it yet [until now]But that’s how I personally think.”
