Anthony Joshua reacts to Joseph Parker drug claim

ANTHONY JOSHUA denies taking steroids in response to Joseph Parkerโ€™s accusation ahead of their heavyweight unification fight that he uses performance-enhancing drugs.

The unbeaten rivals clash at Cardiffโ€™s Principality Stadium on March 31 when Joshuaโ€™s IBF and WBA belts will be at stake against the WBO crown held by Parker.


In a radio interview given in his native New Zealand on Monday, Parker called his opponent the โ€œking of steroidsโ€, adding โ€œif you are that big and that muscly, thereโ€™s something wrongโ€ and โ€œthere are a lot of ways you can dodge drug testingโ€.

The claim, which has since been withdrawn by Parker and his promoter David Higgins, was rejected by Joshua at the London press conference staged on Tuesday to officially announce the fight.

โ€œIโ€™ve heard so much in boxing trash talk that nothingโ€™s new any more. Itโ€™s a fairly serious charge to make. Can I sue Parker?! No, Iโ€™m joking,โ€ Joshua said.

โ€œI know my records are clean. Every time Iโ€™m tested, and I know what Iโ€™ve paid to be voluntarily tested. Thatโ€™s why I donโ€™t bite at what he says.

โ€œIf Iโ€™m not clean, youโ€™ll find out during this fight. If I havenโ€™t been clean for all my other fights, youโ€™ll see me struggle against Parker because anything I have been taking will be out of my system.

โ€œYouโ€™ll find out in this fight whether Iโ€™m the super-human or Iโ€™ve got something pushing on this super-human power that he claims I have.โ€

When the issue of Tyson Furyโ€™s back-dated ban for drug-taking was raised, Joshua stressed that the implications of using steroids in boxing extend beyond the ethical.

The British rivals are on a collision course if Fury is granted a boxing licence and makes a successful comeback having served the retrospective suspension issued by UK Anti-Doping and dispelled more than two years of inactivity.


โ€œIf it was me Iโ€™d get a lot more stick. Furyโ€™s lucky. Itโ€™s not good because in this sport your life is on the line,โ€ Joshua said.

โ€œAnything to do with that type of stuff you have to be careful. Peopleโ€™s lives are on the line.

โ€œItโ€™s not like a game of golf where itโ€™s just the minds. This is physical and thereโ€™s real damage. Itโ€™s a shame people get caught up in that kind of stuff.โ€

Parker, who has won all 24 of his fights and amassed 18 knockouts, adopted a far more diplomatic tone when meeting Joshua for the first time on Tuesday.

Instead, Higgins took on the role of antagonist by leaping on Joshuaโ€™s knockdowns as an amateur and by Wladimir Klitschko as evidence he is vulnerable, adding that the 28-year-old from Watford has โ€œmental weaknessesโ€.

โ€œDo you know what I learned when I was dropped in the Klitschko fight? That it will take more than a human stop me from getting where Iโ€™m destined to be,โ€ Joshua said.

โ€œIโ€™ve learned not to walk with sight on this journey, but with faith. The rumours that you have heard are fake news, hand on heart. Iโ€™ve learned from adversity and through going through the storm.

โ€œIโ€™m not into the verbals. Iโ€™d fight him in the car park for free, it doesnโ€™t matter to me. Thatโ€™s what a fighterโ€™s mindset is.โ€

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