Conor Benn explains turmoil after losing 'dream home' for boxing career

Jack Otway
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:22:54 +0000

Conor Benn has disclosed that he was forced to give up his family home after accumulating £1.1million in legal costs while battling to restore his reputation.

The 29-year-old welterweight returned two positive drug tests ahead of his scheduled October 2022 bout against Chris Eubank Jr, which was subsequently cancelled.

Throughout a lengthy investigation spanning nearly a year, Benn maintained he had never deliberately used performance-enhancing substances. The case was ultimately dropped.

Speaking to The Overlap, a visibly emotional Benn explained the devastating financial consequences of his legal battle.

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"And when I mean lost everything, we've lost our family home. That's it, we've got two kids," he said.

The boxer revealed he turned to his wife for guidance when facing the agonising decision of whether to continue pursuing the case despite the mounting expenses.

"I said to my missus, 'what do I do?', because if I lose this case and I've spent all this money, we've lost everything," Benn recalled.

"That was my dream home then. So I said, 'what do you want me to do?', and she said, 'you've got to keep fighting. You've got to keep fighting this case'."

Benn admitted he wrestled with whether his determination to clear his name was driven by selfishness, questioning if public perception truly mattered when he had children to consider.

"I'm in this conflict of spending millions and losing millions at the same time when I could have just not. But I chose to and I won," he said.

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The accusations plunged Benn into severe depression, requiring ongoing therapy to cope with the ordeal.

"I had therapy all the time. I had prayers, but I felt like my prayers had let me down. I didn't understand," he said.

"Depression is real. Yes, I live the life I live now, and I'm so appreciative of the life God's given me."

The father of two described how the situation left him unable to fulfil his parental responsibilities.

"Back then, I was scared to go to sleep at night because I knew I had to wake up to it the next day," Benn explained.

"Bear in mind I've got kids. I couldn't even be a dad, I couldn't even look my son in the face."

Benn urged others facing difficulties to confront their challenges directly rather than avoiding them.

"I was running away from the problem, I couldn't face it head on. And my advice to anybody going through anything that may be hard is to face it head on because, in the long run, it's easier," he said.

"Don't run from it because I ran into oblivion. I don't even know where I was, didn't even know who I was."

The welterweight reflected that everyday existence presents greater challenges than any contest in the ring.

"The hardest fight is life. More than 36 minutes against another man, you've got to live up here every day with yourself. And I couldn't live with it."

Benn signed a surprise deal with Dana White's Zuffa Boxing last month.