Anthony Joshua clean amid pre-fight doping scandal
Anthony Joshua has been cleared by VADA after he returned negative tests for his pre-fight testings amidst doping scandals involving both of his opponents for last month’s O2 Arena fight who tested positive for banned substances before the match.
Joshua had to switch from fighting Dillian Whyte to Robert Helenius at the last minute when Whyte’s test came back positive for a banned substance. This change downgraded the fight from pay-per-view to a standard DAZN event. Unfortunately, after Joshua’s victory in the seventh round, Helenius also tested positive, creating further controversy.
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Both Whyte and Helenius claim they are innocent, and Joshua has kept a relatively low profile on the issue.
It was the latest in a string of stories regarding drugs in boxing, but the British-Nigerian has tested clean, as with the rest of his career, and is expected to move on to a showdown with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia next year.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, responsible for testing Joshua’s fight, tweeted their congratulations to him for successfully completing their testing. They tagged his promoter, Eddie Hearn and the British Boxing Board of Control.