Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have a venue. Now there is a drug-testing question.
The fight appears set for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in December after weeks of back-and-forth over whether it would land in New York or the UK. Before it can be announced, the testing program has to be sorted out.
Joshua posted an email on social media from the president of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. It asks whether Fury intends to enroll and notes that VADA needs a whereabouts form before either fighter can be placed in the program.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, addressed the issue over the weekend. He was careful not to put it on Fury.
[The drug testing protocol] wasn’t adhered to in its form. I don’t actually necessary blame Tyson Fury for that. As we’ve found out on many occasions, what’s in AJ’s contract is not necessarily in Tyson Fury’s contract.
He said the two contracts simply differ on when testing was meant to begin.
Testing was supposed to start when the original contracts were signed and it didn’t for them. And I don’t think [Fury] had in his contract that it had to start then. This is not me saying, ‘he didn’t enroll.’ I don’t think he was obligated to enroll [in his contract] but in our contract, he was.
Fury has not commented. An official announcement for the fight is still expected soon.
