Anthony Joshua has appeared to question why Tyson Fury has not enrolled in drug-testing for their mega-fight. Joshua and Fury will clash in Cardiff on December 11 with an official announcement now imminent and a press conference expected to take place in London early next week.
Joshua posts VADA email on Snapchat
Questions have been raised over Fury's drug-testing protocol, with Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn insisting testing should be underway by now. Joshua has now posted a copy of an email to his Snapchat account, showing correspondence between the VADA drug-testing agency and an unknown recipient.
The email reads: "Is Mr. Fury going to enroll? Typically, we enroll opponents at the same time. We also need the whereabouts form to enroll either fighter." Joshua posted the email along with a caption which read: "I'm not accusing TF of anything".
Fury's team responds
In response, a statement from Fury's team read: "Once the fight has been officially finalised, VADA will be the first people we will be calling."
Speaking on Saturday night, Hearn claimed Fury should have started testing when he signed the contract to fight Joshua. "The drug testing protocol is the same as what has always been in the contract," he said. "It wasn't adhered to in its form.
"I don't actually, necessarily blame Tyson Fury for that because I don't think – as we have found out on many occasions – I don't think what is in AJ's contract is the same as what is in AJ's contract. Testing was supposed to start when the original contracts were signed. And it didn't for them.
"I don't think it had it in his contract that it had to start then, so this is not me saying he didn't enrol, I don't think he was obligated to enrol. But in our contract he was obligated to enrol."
Separate contracts cause issues
Joshua and Fury signed separate contracts and Hearn explained why this has caused issues. "There have been many issues along the way, with the contracts, that we have let slip, because we want to stay in the fight and we want to make sure the fight happens," he added.
"The ones we weren't willing to let slip were the location and TKO's involvement. The protocol was supposed to start earlier but it is now in line with most other fights. I don't necessarily blame Tyson Fury for that, I just think what we asked for was not in his personal contract, so he did not have to do it."
