The backers of Junior Fa and Joseph Parker are embroiled in a dispute over mandatory drug testing ahead of their heavyweight boxing bout on December 11, but both say it shouldn’t derail the fight. Fa’s US promoter Lou DiBella has served a breach notice on David Higgins, Parker’s manager and the promoter of the fight, saying he’s broken the terms of the contract.
DiBella says he won’t be pushed around by Higgins, but Higgins has returned serve, saying it was an innocent mistake and DiBella may be trying to game me. Fa’s camp insisted on random, mandatory blood and urine testing conducted by Drug Free Sport New Zealand, with the Sports Tribunal acting as arbiters, which was meant to start immediately the fight contract was signed a fortnight ago.
However, testing has not begun, with Higgins blaming that on administrative delays and saying he expects tests to start this week – adding he is willing to make them public to prove there is nothing to hide. Details about the drug testing protocol and who it would be administered by was one of the hold-ups which led to negotiations for the fight taking six months.
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