By Patrick McHugh: The World Boxing Council came out with a statement on Wednesday, saying that they’re still investigating the positive drug test from #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs), and that they will be making a ruling on his situation in the future.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says Deontay is free to take a voluntary defense of his title while he waits for the ruling from the WBC on Povetkin. Wilder has already taken three voluntary defenses since beating former WBC champion Bermane Stiverne last year in January by a 12 round decision.
Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance Meldonium on for one of the April tests during the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA)’s test on that date. The WBC made the most of postponing Wilder’s scheduled May 21 title defense against Povetkin, but they still haven’t officially canceled the fight and removed the Russian fighter from the No.1 WBC mandatory spot. Wilder isn’t happy about it because he feels the WBC should have already made a decision on Povetkin’s case.
“In relation to challenger Povetkin’s test result, the WBC is conducting an in-depth investigation and evaluation of the situation. Further WBC rulings will be forthcoming,” said Sulaiman in a statement sent out today to the media. “In the meantime, the WBC hereby rules that in light of the fact that the bout with challenger Povetkin did not take place as scheduled, WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder has the right to make a voluntary defense of his title as reasonably soon as possible.”
Wilder’s promoter Lou Dibella and manager Al Haymon will need to start looking for an opponent for his next fight now. Wilder’s co-manager Jay Deas mentioned Bryant Jennings as one of the potential candidates for Wilder’s next fight. Jennings would be a good option for a fight on short notice. We’ll likely not see Wilder back inside the ring until at least September, because he’ll need to go through another training camp to get ready for his fight, and his opponent will also need a training camp.
It’s unclear what is taking the WBC so long to make a ruling on Povetkin’s case. It would seem like they should have made a decision by now what they’re going to do with him. They can leave Povetkin as the mandatory and order Wilder to fight him, or they can remove him as the mandatory and drop him to the bottom of their rankings.
Wilder would probably be better off if he faces Povetkin because he’d get a career payday for the fight. Wilder isn’t going to make that kind of money fighting anyone else right now. A fight between the two of them would also give Wilder the chance to prove that he doesn’t have a weak chin like many boxing fans think he does. It would allow Wilder to show he’s not a paper champion.