Eddie Hearn says the drug testing protocol for Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua wasn’t followed as written, and he isn’t putting the blame on Fury.
Speaking at a Matchroom Boxing press conference, Joshua’s promoter said testing was supposed to begin when the original contracts were signed. It didn’t. His explanation is that the requirement sat in Joshua’s contract, not necessarily in Fury’s.
“[The drug testing protocol] wasn’t adhered to in its form. I don’t actually [necessarily] 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,” Hearn said. “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.”
That last line is the heart of it. By Hearn’s account, Fury broke no term of his own deal. The obligation existed only in the paperwork Matchroom negotiated, and testing didn’t start on Fury’s side when it was supposed to. Hearn didn’t say whether Fury has since enrolled or whether a program is now in place.
Two Contracts, Two Sets Of Rules
The gap Hearn describes is the same one that stalled this fight for weeks. Both men signed separate contracts with Saudi organizers Sela, and Joshua’s deal requires the bout to take place in the UK while Fury’s does not. That mismatch is why Fury was open to Madison Square Garden and Hearn insisted the fight won’t happen in America.
Hearn has already claimed the other side broke parts of Joshua’s agreement. “There has been breaches in AJ’s contract already which we’ve let slide because these guys are our partners and our friends,” he said at an earlier Matchroom press conference. He didn’t tie the testing lapse to those breaches.
Anti-doping is a loaded subject around Fury. In 2016, VADA notified him of a positive test for a cocaine metabolite ahead of his planned Wladimir Klitschko rematch, and he later accepted a backdated two-year UK Anti-Doping suspension over a 2015 nandrolone case that expired in December 2017.
Where The Fight Stands
The comments land as the fight nears an official announcement. Dan Rafael reported that, if everything is finalized, Fury vs. Joshua is headed to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Friday, December 11, with November 28 and December 4 also discussed.
Hearn told IFL TV that Joshua turned down extra money to move the fight to New York after TKO’s offer complicated the deal. “It will be an announcement next week, but I can’t tell you if it’s Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said.
