EDDIE HEARN has launched a furious attack on what he sees as the perilous nature of drug cheating in American boxing.
The cancellation of Anthony Joshua’s bout with Jarrell Miller, due to the US fighter’s positive test for banned substances, has raised questions over how widespread the issue is.
Joshua is currently without a replacement opponent but says news will be coming this week.
However there is a wider problem at hand for Hearn, who worries doping could even lead to a boxer dying.
“With what’s at stake in the sport right now, these people will be cheating to get an edge to win,” Hearn told Boxing Scene.
“I think there are a lot of champions out there [who are cheating], and it’s got to change.
“I don’t know if it’s the promoters, I don’t know if it’s the commission, I don’t know if it’s the governing bodies, but someone has got to do something to make sure that at least the title fights are being tested.
“Something is going to happen, someone is going to die, someone is going to get hurt for life, someone is going to get paralysed by a drugs cheat, what happens then? Is that murder?
Someone is going to get paralysed by a drugs cheat, what happens then?
Eddie Hearn
“And that could have happened on June 1.”
The ‘Big Baby’ was due to face Joshua on in a few weeks’ time until banned substances GW1516, HGH and EPO were found in his system from tests carried out in March.
The New York State Athletic Commission subsequently denied the Brooklyn based heavyweight a boxing licence.
Following the news, Hearn labelled the uncovering of Miller’s use of substances as “the most extensive case of cheating in this sport we have ever seen”.
He said: “The more time I spend around American boxing, I do feel the problem is a lot worse over here than it is in the UK.
“Only because the British Boxing Board of Control have UKAD random testing for fighters, you have absolutely no testing over here.
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“The WBC testing, they’re doing a great job, but they can’t be tested all the time.
“I’ve got guys who have signed with me and signed up to WBC testing, they’ve never been tested.
“There are fighters out here who are never getting tested until fight night. It just opens the door, there’s no fear of getting caught.”