In a month where boxing has been hit with haymakers of its own creation, Claressa Shields’ sellout title fight against Savannah Marshall offered reason for optimism.
The sport needs that boost, especially as the fallout continues from Conor Benn’s failed drugs test, and the calling off of his bout with Chris Eubank Jr.
As UK Anti-Doping investigates Benn’s positive test for the banned substance Clomifene – described by promoters as “adverse analytical finding for trace amounts of a fertility drug” – boxing is facing a lot of questions.
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Is there enough drug testing? Are the British Boxing Board of Control fit as arbitrators of the sport? Is the sport ultimately run on the say of its biggest paymasters?
Let’s not forget too, the revelations earlier this year surrounding Daniel Kinahan, and his connections with boxing.
Kinahan – a well-known figure in boxing circles – was hit with worldwide financial sanctions by the United States in April for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering. There are no allegations of wrongdoing against any boxers who have worked with him.
The collapse of MTK Global – the promotion company co-founded by Kinahan, which he has said he cut ties with in 2017 – and the scattering of hundreds of their fighters raised serious questions about the standard of governance in boxing.
