Lineal heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury finally enrolled in the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program on Monday.
Fury is due to challenge world titleholder Deontay Wilder for that sanctioning body’s heavyweight world title belt Dec. 1 in the main event of a Showtime PPV card at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Although the deal for the fight was completed a couple of weeks ago and the fighters finished their three-city, two-country media tour last week, Fury had not yet enrolled.
The WBC mandates that the all of its titleholders and contenders participate in the random drug-testing program overseen by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. If a fighter does not enroll, he is not eligible to fight for a WBC title or in a WBC-sanctioned bout.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told ESPN on Sunday that he was not aware that Fury had not yet enrolled in the program; he said he would get in touch with Fury and his team immediately, and that if Fury did not enroll, the fight would not be sanctioned by the WBC.
On Monday, Sulaiman announced that Fury had taken care of it. “Tyson Fury has sent WBC Clean Boxing Program enrollment forms to VADA,” he said.
Wilder co-manager Shelly Finkel confirmed to ESPN he had been notified that Fury’s paperwork for the program was complete.
Wilder has been enrolled in the program all along and now with Fury also in, both are expected to participate in a specialized testing protocol that goes beyond the somewhat limited scope of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program.
Lou DiBella, Wilder’s promoter, told ESPN that he contacted Dr. Margaret Goodman, the president of VADA, on Monday about a drug-testing program specific to the bout.
“It’s very quick to start up the program,” DiBella said. “Now that Fury’s paperwork is in and he is enrolled, we can start it almost immediately. Everything will get worked out this week now that the paperwork is in and then the testing can start. As soon as I found out that Fury sent in his forms, I sent Margaret an email and we will talk about getting the program set up.”
With a little less than two months until the fight, a testing program tailored for the Wilder-Fury fight would start right around the same time that these programs normally would.
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