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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ben Davies

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte sign up to drug testing for world title fight

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte have both enrolled on the VADA drug testing program ahead of their heavyweight world title fight.

The pair will clash at Wembley Stadium on April 23 for the WBC heavyweight title as Fury makes the second defence of his title.

Whyte has remained silent since the fight was confirmed after he signed the contract just hours before the final deadline.

However both Fury and Whyte have enrolled on to the VADA drug-testing programme which is sanctioned by the WBC as part of their 'Clean Boxing program'.

VADA issued a statement saying: "VADA Testing welcomes Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte back to our program as they prepare for their bout on April 23, 2022."

Fury was handed a backdated two-year ban in 2017 following a positive test for the steroid nandrolone in 2015. Fury has always denied cheating and blamed the result on eating uncastrated wild boar.

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte will contest for the WBC heavyweight title in April (Getty Images)

Whyte produced an adverse result in a test before he defeated Oscar Rivas in 2016 to win the WBC interim belt.

The organisation stripped Whyte of his belt while the investigation continued but UKAD later cleared Whyte of any wrongdoing after an investigation confirmed that a contaminated supplement containing trace amounts of two metabolites of steroids caused his test to come back positive.

VADA confirmed that Whyte and Rivas had both passed tests in the build-up to the fight and Whyte repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Fury and Whyte have shared a long-term rivalry, with the 'Body Snatcher' previously mocking Fury's positive test for the use of cocaine on social media.

However Whyte has yet to engage in any trash talk with the champion since Frank Warren won purse bid.

He has been left unhappy with his financial reward after Fury was handed a guaranteed £20million payday with the WBC confirming a purse split of 80 per cent in his favour.

Who do you think will win - Tyson Fury or Dillian Whyte? Let us know in the comments section below

Whyte failed to show at the press conference to launch the fight, with F ury facing off with a poster to mock the absence of his upcoming challenger.

Fury has made a new nickname for Whyte after his continued silence regarding the fight, and believes his absence will continue to drive his confidence.

"He is called Thrillian Whyteknickers, because he is as soft as what it says in the title," Fury said. "All this social media stuff he has shown his colours today, he gets upset and causes a ruckus, now he has given me that much more confidence.

The way he is going on about it, because he will see that fire in my eyes and think he is getting killed.

"It is fear and it is terror, it is all of the above and I don’t blame him for not being here. I’d be remanded in a London jail as I would have stretched him."

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