By Eric Baldwin: Former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin’s drug sample from December 13th has tested negative for banned substances, according to TASS. What this means in this means in terms of Povetkin still being allowed to fight for a world title against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is unclear. Povetkin (31-1, 23 KOs) tested positive on December 6 for the banned substance ostarine in a test conducted by the Voluntary Anti Doping Agency [VADA].
After the positive drug test for Povetkin, the World Boxing Council chosen not to sanction his December 17th scheduled fight against Bermane Stiverne for their WBC interim heavyweight title.
This resulted in Stiverne pulling out of the fight. Instead, Povetkin fought contender Johann Duhaupas on December 17, and he stopped him in the 6th round at the Ekaterinburg Expo in Ekaterinburg, Russia. However, the WBC interim heavyweight title wasn’t on the line for that fight. It was just basically a stay busy fight for the 36-year-old Povetkin.
“We have just received the results of Povetkin’s new doping sample taken by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on December 13. He is clean, no doping has been detected,” Povetkin’s promoter Andrei Ryabinsky said on his social media site Twitter. “Is that what they call honest American sport. We are probing into this case.”
With the news of Povetkin’s negative test for banned drugs on December 13, the WBC will need to make a decision what to do about the positive test for Povetkin a week earlier on December 6. Does the WBC ignore that test or do they go by the results of that test in making their decision whether to penalize Povetkin?
If the WBC chooses to go by the earlier positive test for Povetkin on December 6 rather than his negative one on December 13, then what can Povetkin and his promoter do about it? Ideally, VADA should have taken two samples from Povetkin on December 6 in case one was contaminated. It’s unclear whether they did or not.
If the WBC chooses to go by Povetkin’s December 13 negative test for drugs, do they automatically make him the mandatory for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder? If they do, Stiverne would have something to say about it, because he feels that he should be the one that is now the mandatory for Wilder.
The WBC could order another fight between Stiverne and Povetkin, and have the fight take place in the next three to four months. That’s one way of solving the problem. It’ll obviously take time for them to negotiate the fight and get ready to fight again. At least the fight would finally get made and one of the two could be ready to fight Wilder by late 2017.
Povetkin has been working to get himself back into a title shot since losing his WBA title to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013. It’s taken Povetkin a long time to get in range of another shot at a title. He was out of action for a year due to him missing a fight against Wilder earlier this year after he tested positive for a banned substance.