Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said he’s innocent of doping charges and is being harassed by the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD), before his hearing on Monday.
Fury was charged with a doping offence by UKAD in June 2016. In August 2016, Fury’s legal team said the would sue UKAD over the allegations, because tests taken in March and May 2015 showed contradictory results.
The 28-year-old Fury vacated his titles and his boxing license was suspended in October 2016 pending investigation after he admitted to consuming cocaine and dealing with mental health issues.
“I’ve never taken a drug in my life,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“These people can say what they like but I’m suing them for what they have done to me … I have been tested 50 to 60 times, sometimes three times in a week, blood and urine. This went on from way before the Klitschko fight.
“If I tested positive then why didn’t they ban me then? It never made any sense to me. I even had a meeting with them and they said I had nothing to worry about. Fifteen months later they say they are suspending my licence.”
Fury traded barbs with current world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on social media during the build-up to and after Joshua’s victory over Wladimir Klitschko on April 29.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, denied reports of a scheduled bout between the two, since Fury has yet to regain his license, and if he is found guilty on Monday, he could face a lengthy ban from the sport.
Fury also said that he was being harassed by the UKAD, after they administered a random drugs test last Friday.
“I was very shocked, Fury said. “But they said they had come here to give me a random drugs test. With all that is going on, they still expect me to be super nice to them, so I was.
“I explained to them that … that I’ve been out of the ring for 18 months, but UKAD were insistent on testing me on Friday. Perhaps they wanted me to say ‘go away’, so they could give me an automatic ban. I let them test me, I said go ahead, because I have nothing to hide. But it’s like harassment.”
Source – Reuters
