The drug testing policy for December’s Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul showdown has been confirmed.
Joshua vs Paul takes centre-stage at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on December 19 in a professional heavyweight contest over eight rounds, with USADA overseeing the drug testing process.
Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul Drug Testing Confirmed
The announcement of Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul took the boxing world by storm with the pair confirmed to do battle on December 19 in Miami in an eight-round professional heavyweight boxing contest.
With the fight being officially confirmed, all of the Joshua vs Paul rules and regulations have also been agreed and revealed. This includes the round stipulations, sanctioning body, weight limit and more.
These rules also include drug testing. It has been confirmed that this heavyweight contest between ‘AJ’ and ‘The Problem Child’ is being overseen by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The pair will meet in less than a month’s time in the centre of the Kaseya Center boxing ring, with 10oz gloves on and eight three-minute rounds scheduled for the contest.
The boxing world have heavily criticised the fight, with many labelling it a joke and a disgrace. However, Matchroom Boxing chairman and Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn feels that the fight is strictly business and is easy money for the former two-time unified world heavyweight king.
Ever since making his boxing debut, Paul has been criticised by many for taking performance enhancing drugs. The American has firmly denied all accusations of foul play and dispelled any doping rumours by signing up for random drug testing by USADA for the Gervonta Davis fight.
The Davis fight has obviously since been cancelled with Joshua stepping in in place of ‘Tank’. Although it’s a huge opponent change for the former YouTube and Disney channel star, USADA drug testing remains in place for the bout.
AJ vs Jake Paul Drug Testing Overseen By USADA
Anthony Joshua cancelled a surprise fight in favour of this Jake Paul match-up, which has taken the boxing world by storm ever since the official announcement on Monday, November 17.
With Joshua stepping in to face ‘The Problem Child’ on December 19, live exclusively on Netflix, this means the former two-time unified world heavyweight champion will also have to adhere to USADA testing.
USADA were the official anti-doping body for the UFC for almost a decade from 2015-2024, ruling strict punishments and a random testing protocol that ultimately paid dividends for Dana White’s organisation.
Performance-enhancing drug use is rife in combat sports, with plenty of MMA fighters, boxers and other combatants having been caught thanks to anti-doping agencies and random testing.
Joshua has never failed a test in his 32-fight career, which includes being tested previously by a whole host of anti-doping agencies such as Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and also the British Boxing Board of Control.
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) CEO and co-founder Nakisa Bidarian insists that both Paul and Joshua are enrolled in USADA testing and will be heavily monitored:
“We are enrolled in the highest level of USASA for this fight, just like Jake was with ‘Tank’. So Jake just continues in that programme, and Joshua enters the programme immediately.
“Jake was tested eight times by USADA during the past seven weeks since we started the programme with USADA for Jake vs Tank. That’s just going to continue. Randomised testing, frequent testing. We’re four weeks out, so it’s going to be pretty comprehensive,” Bidarian concluded.
