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4th September 2025
03:31pm BST
Mick Conlan has made the extraordinary claim that most of those at the top of boxing are doping, or have doped in the past.
The 33-year-old, speaking ahead of his fight against Brit Jack Bateson (20-1-1) on Friday night, with a 19-3-0 record having lost two of his last three fights.
He said doping is “massive” in boxing, but says he would never take performance-enhancing drugs as he wants to be proud of his career when he retires.
“I think [doping is] massive,” he said “I think America was much ahead. Russia, they had always been ahead.
“I think the UK, in a sense, is definitely catching up and there’s people in the UK who are actively doping.
"I always said I would never do it because, at the end of my career - whether I achieve or whether I don’t achieve - we will look in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve done it my way. I’ve done it the right way, I’ve done it clean.'
“Where, as time has gone on, I think these people will look in the mirror and say: ‘f*** it, I’ve won. Everybody else was doing it’. That’s what I think.
“I think most people - at the top end in this game - have done or are doing some sort of PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs).
“And, whether it’s legal doping or not, who knows?”
Ahead of Friday’s fight at the 3Arena, 31-year-old Leeds fighter Bateson said: “There’s no pressure on me because most people who are asked to pick a winner will pick him, because I am fighting in his home.
“But it’s the sort of opportunity I have been crying out for.
“There’s no animosity between me and Mick, I think he’s a great fighter.
“I am best mates with all the lads in the gym but when the bells goes, we beat 10 bells of s*** out of each other - and then the bell ends and you’re hugging again.”
