Conor Benn has said he considered suicide after testing positive for a banned substance which led to the cancellation of his fight with Chris Eubank Jr in October.
Benn, 26, was recently reinstated to the WBC rankings after the body concluded his failed test was unintentional. They added the positive result could have been a result of a “highly-elevated consumption of eggs.”
The former WBA Continental welterweight title holder said he felt like he was on “death row” after the failed test, adding that no matter what people think, he is innocent.
“It’s hurt me, it’s hurt me this has,” he told Piers Morgan Uncensored. “I didn’t think I was going to make it through this period, I didn’t think I was going to make it through.
“I was shamed for something I hadn’t even done, it’s hard because I felt like I was on death row for something I haven’t even done.
“If I had done something wrong I’m human, I’d raise my hands to it ‘I made a mistake’, whatever it is, my personal life, I raise my hands.
“Never this, and I felt seven years of hard work and sacrifice and leaving my family and the image I maintain was just ruined at somebody else’s incompetence. It’s been hard for the family. I didn’t think I’d see another day.
When asked if he was feeling suicidal, Benn said: “Yeah, yeah I’d say so, and it upsets me now because I don’t know how I got so bad.
“I got in a really bad way about it. You’ve got to remember, if you think I’m innocent or if you don’t think I’m innocent, I am innocent.”