Money talks loudest in a sport that is fighting for its credibility

BOXING has far from covered itself in glory this week.

- Matt Majendie

It began with news that the mega-fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury was off.

Depending which side of the argument you choose to believe, Fury was simply playing games or Joshua was fearful of walking and talking his way into a third straight loss.

The cynics, or even realists, never really believed it was a fight finding its way to fruition, despite initial terms being agreed.

Then, yesterday, came the far more serious matter of the legalities of Conor Benn’s fight against Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday night going ahead.

Money always talks in sport, and boxing is no different. What it effectively comes down to is the fact that there is £10 million on the line.

Long before the doping fall-out, the clamour for the fight was huge, the O2 a sell-out and the promoters massively oversubscribed for media requests to cover the fight.

It is now a fight that has turned into a farce and all sensibilities point to the fact that it should not and cannot go ahead, but when have sensibilities ever got in the way of the boxing juggernaut?

Benn will have his chance in due course to argue how a banned substance, clomifene, more typically an infertility drug for woman but which can also help boost testosterone levels, managed to find its way into his system.