Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury faces a big problem just days before the press conference as a new issue comes up.
Anthony Joshua is thinking about skipping a press conference before his big all-British heavyweight fight against Tyson Fury. The two are set to face off at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in the early hours of December 12, after years of back-and-forth buildup.
However, Joshua has an important decision to make. According to The Sun, he won’t start his training camp in Dubai until Fury signs up with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).
The report says Fury agreed to this back in April after his win over Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov, and Joshua signed soon after. They even exchanged some heated words that night. Joshua, who’s 36 from Watford, has a contract clause saying both fighters must join the VADA testing program.
As of 1pm on September 28, Fury still hadn’t signed up, putting the fight and this week’s press conference in doubt. Fury’s team told The Sun that once the fight is official, VADA will be contacted right away.
Usually, fighters have to share their whereabouts so testers can do random checks anytime, anywhere. Fury also doesn’t have a British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) license yet and hasn’t been tested by UK Anti-Doping. But he can ask to get his license back.
The first press conference to promote the fight is supposed to be in London on Wednesday, September 30, but Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said it’s not confirmed yet.
This comes after Netflix said that Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and Dana White were promoting the fight. But Hearn said Dana White won’t be involved or attend the press conference if it happens.
“Netflix put out a press release about Dana White being part of it, but that’s not true,” Hearn said last week. “Dana White cannot be involved. No one talks to each other properly. I told Sela and Turki: ‘No, Dana White is not involved. You’ve got a contract.’”
Earlier last week, Hearn also talked about the drug-testing rules, saying they’re the same as always in the contract but weren’t followed as planned.
He added, “I don’t really blame Tyson Fury because it seems like what’s in AJ’s contract isn’t exactly the same as Tyson’s. Testing was supposed to start when the first contracts were signed, but it didn’t for them. I don’t think Tyson had to enroll then, but in our contract, he does.”