Ryabinsky press statement: The new doping test of the Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin, taken May 17, 2016, showed no traces of Meldonium. This was reported today by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) with reference to the results of analyses conducted by the laboratory in Los Angeles. The sample taken a week earlier also lacked traces of Meldonium. Thus, only one of Povetkin’s six samples revealed extremely low concentrations of the prohibited drug.
The new result proves that the positive sample in April was a residual effect of Mildronat taken last year. If the drug was taken in the period between April 11 and 27, traces would also have been found in the latest tests.
A.Ryabinsky, Povetkin’s promoter: “I want to emphasize that Alexander Povetkin has never taken any prohibited drugs. We will have to sue our American counterparts and some of the US tabloids that have expressed extremely unjustified views. One of them might be Dan Rafael from ESPN”.
According to Ryabinsky, the postponed fight should take place by the end of the year.
The Povetkin – Wilder fight was supposed to take place on May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow. But it was postponed after one of the samples showed traces of Meldonium in extremely low concentrations – 70 nanograms.
According to WADA rules, if the doping test was carried out after March 1, 2016, and the substance content in it amounted to less than 1 µg further investigations are required to find out when the drug was taken. The World Boxing Council (WBC) has not yet taken a decision on canceling the fight or disqualifying Povetkin. The organization plans to conduct its own investigation.