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Eddie Hearn says ‘the world’ feels Dillian Whyte is guilty of doping violation

Fighters Network
07
Aug

After his unanimous decision victory over Oscar Rivas on July 20, it was announced that Dillian Whyte failed a drug test before the bout took place in London.

An emergency hearing took place the week of the fight in which Whyte attended. The British Boxing Board of Control along with the United Kingdom Anti-Doping cleared Whyte to face Rivas. The WBC went on to temporarily suspend Whyte’s status as the WBC interim titleholder until an investigation is complete.

The consensus among boxing pundits is Whyte cheated and there should have been a punishment. His promoter at Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn thinks his fighter should be allowed to show he’s innocent even though others think differently.

“Obviously, the world has made their minds up that he’s guilty,” Hearn recently told Sporting News. “He has to be given a chance to show people that he’s not.”



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People have been upset at the fact Whyte still was able to fight even with the adverse finding. Hearn wants to make it clear that Whyte provided everything the UKAD and the BBBofC were looking for, thus being allowed to go on with the bout.

“One thing you have to know about the process, that was the protocol followed in that instance where he was asked to provide information at a hearing of an independent panel with the UK anti-doping panel to present evidence to effectively clear him for the fight,” Hearn said. “He did that, and he was cleared to fight. We followed procedure.”

Another bone of contention has been the fact Rivas nor his team were told about the matter. Rivas’ promoter at Top Rank, Bob Arum, felt Hearn had an “obligation” to let the Rivas team know precisely what happened. Hearn disagrees and says he followed the rules and didn’t have to inform them.

“My contract with both guys was that if they were cleared to fight by the commission, the fight was on,” Hearn said. “No one can stop that fight in that instance. It’s a confidential case as is the UK policy.”

The only statement Whyte has made was on his Twitter page stating he cannot talk about his situation publicly at this time. With Whyte testing positive for methylhexaneamine in 2012 and receiving a two-year suspension, the 31-year-old is facing a lengthy suspension if found guilty. At this stage, any significant punishment could spell the end of Whyte’s peak fighting years.

“He has to come out and obviously with the UK (anti-doping panel) and make everyone aware that he is innocent in that situation,” Hearn said. “That’s a difficult position for him now. That’s why he hasn’t said too much because he’s got to get this right. His career is at risk here.”

Written by Steven Muehlhausen

 

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