Eddie Hearn reveals Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury 'drug testing' delay before announcement

Eddie Hearn has revealed another problem ahead of Anthony Joshua's anticipated bout with Tyson Fury. The British boxing giants finally looked to be on a collision course later this year, before a dispute over the destination of the fight.

Plans appeared to be being put in place for a monumental clash at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 20, AJ's contract for the fight includes a clause insisting it takes place in the United Kingdom. His determination to see that honoured has seen Cardiff's Principality Stadium come into the running, though the bout could be pushed back until December.

But the location of the fight is not the only area causing some contract confusion, according to Hearn. The boxing promoter has suggested there is a discrepancy in expectations between Joshua and Fury.

Olympic champion Joshua has already been required to undergo drug testing since the outset of the bout agreement, while Hearn isn't convinced the same stipulation is within Fury's agreement.

"The drug testing protocol was the same as what has always been in there," said Hearn, following Pat Brown's win over John Hedges on Saturday. "It 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.

"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.

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"So this is not me saying, 'He didn't enrol'. I don't think he was obligated to enrol [in his contract]. But in our contract, he was obligated to enrol. There have been many issues along the way with the contract that we have let slip and ride because we want to stay in the fight and make sure it happens."

Despite that, Hearn believes that a date for the fight is now locked and that announcement is imminent. Regular conversations have taken place with Netflix.

He said: "Over the last week or two, obviously we made our decision, and AJ was the guy leading that decision that we weren’t interested in accepting any extra money or changing the terms of the agreement to change the location.

"He decided that he wanted to make sure that the fight was in the UK, and since then they've accepted that. We've worked together and we've been speaking to Netflix on regular occasions to basically lock in the date.

"I think the date is locked in, and I'll let them give you the official announcement. It was supposed to be this week, but I think it's going to be very, very soon."

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