Drug testing another inconsistency in Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury contracts, claims Eddie Hearn
First it was the location, then it was the date, and now it seems the drug-testing protocols on the original contracts of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were also different.
The pair look set to finally meet on December 11 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium after nearly a decade of back-and-forths. The most recent effort to get them together has proved somewhat turbulent, largely due to inconsistencies on the contracts.
Boxing Scene understands that Joshua’s contract stated the fight had to take place in the UK whereas Fury’s did not. The dates were not in sync, either.
Now another major difference, involving drug testing for the bout, has been alleged by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
Hearn claims that in Joshua’s contract, which was signed more than three months ago, it stipulated that both fighters must start drug testing immediately. Joshua enrolled in testing, while Fury did not.
“The drug-testing protocol was the same as what had always been in there. It wasn’t adhered to in full,” said Hearn when asked by Boxing News, following Matchroom’s Pat Brown-John Hedges event, on Saturday. “I don’t actually necessarily blame Tyson Fury for that, because I don’t think, as we found out on many occasions, what’s in AJ’s contract is not necessarily in Tyson Fury’s contract.
“Testing was supposed to start when the original contracts were signed, and it didn’t for them. I don’t think he had in his contract that it had to start then. So this is not me saying he didn’t enroll. I don’t think he was obliged to enroll. But in our contract, he was obliged to enroll.
“These are small things, there’s been many issues along the way with the contract that we’ve let slip and ride because we want to stay in the fight, and we want to make sure the fight happens,” Hearn continued. “So the ones that we weren’t willing to let slip and ride, obviously 90 per cent of that was the location. TKO involvement was a little bit of that as well, but mainly it was the location.”
A source close to the situation told BS that Fury will “start drug testing” when the fight is formally announced. It would be unusual for fighters to begin testing before then.
Hearn also revealed that this is not the first time there has been a discrepancy in contracts while dealing with Turki Alalshikh and Sela. When Hearn represented Conor Benn for his two fights with Chris Eubank Jnr in 2025, there were also issues with contracts.
“It just causes non-stop problems, and we had it with the Eubank-Benn fight as well,” said Hearn. “As a small example, we were supposed to have the home dressing room in the fight, but Eubank added in his contract that he has the home dressing room. I know it sounds quite [minor], but it causes big problems.
“Other things — who walks first, who walks second, so many different things. Even down to the hydration, the fines and all this kind of stuff. People are so desperate to get deals done, rather than actually getting them done properly, they just say yes. But what happens is, down the line, it ends up kicking you in the nuts.”
