Wladimir Klitschko was undefeated for over a decade when went up against Tyson Fury in Düsseldorf, Germany on November 28, 2015. It wasn’t entirely surprising when the undefeated 27-year old Fury defeated the 39-year old Klitschko. Fury was undefeated and had youth on his side. And if some reports are to be believed, he also had anabolic steroids on his side as well.

Fury was furious at published reports by The Sunday Mirror (UK) appearing on June 26, 2016 that claimed Fury tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone during an unannounced anti-doping test collected six months prior to his bout with Klitschko. (Nandrolone is the active steroidal ingredient in the popular steroid known as Deca Durabolin.)

To make matters worse, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) refused to confirm or deny whether Fury was ever under investigation. As a matter of policy, UKAD does not comment on any investigation, past or present, that did not result in an adverse analytical finding (AAF). If UKAD did investigate a suspicious sample that contained traces of nandrolone, it eventually concluded that there was no anti-doping violation. If UKAD did not investigate a nandrolone positive, it still can not disclose this publicly.

In response to questions about Fury and steroids, UKAD spokesperson Sophie Ashcroft explained UKAD official stance on responding to such allegations.

“UK Anti-Doping does not discuss or disclose details of any cases until due legal process has been completed or a respondent chooses to put the information into the public domain,” Ashcroft said. “It is important to note that an anti-doping rule violation is only deemed to have been committed once the legal process, including any appeals, has been completed. At that point, details of a violation will be made available on the UKAD website.”

 

At any rate, Fury is not at risk of losing his newly-acquired heavyweight title and the results of the Fury-Klitschko contest are not in question. The only consequence of The Sunday Mirror report is a public relations problem for Fury.

The Sunday Mirror report has, justly or unjustly, branded Fury as a steroid user in the public’s eyes. This can have negative consequences for athletes especially when it comes to endorsements.

Fury did his best to defuse the rumors by releasing a statement via his promoter Hennessy Sport.

“We are baffled by today’s story in the Sunday Mirror. Tyson Fury absolutely denies any allegation of doping,” said the statement. “He looks forward to recovering from his injury and defending his titles against Wladimir Klitschko in October.”

 

If the truth be told, the steroid accusation likely does little additional harm to his reputation among potential sponsors. His history of making controversial comments about Jews, rape and bestiality have likely scared many mainstream sponsors away already.

Furthermore, Fury has no problems with elite athletes using anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) anyway. He displayed a decidedly pro-steroid viewpoint during an interview before his Klitschko title fight.

“Why don’t they just make drugs totally legal in sports, then everybody would be taking drugs and then it would be fully fair then, wouldn’t it? … It’s none of my concern really, but if the governing bodies want to do that then I think it would be a bit fairer because you’ve got all them people taking drugs and when you face a man who is not taking drugs it becomes unfair, doesn’t it?”

 

In other words, Fury denies using steroids but he would be the first one to support steroid use for everybody in elite sports should it come to that.