Russian Alexander Povetkin fails doping test as WBC title shot against Deontay Wilder nears

The World Boxing Council announced Friday that it was working on “appropriate steps” following a positive drug test by Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin for the banned substance meldonium.

Povetkin is scheduled to fight unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder of Alabama on May 21 in Moscow. Russia will host Wilder’s title defense because Povetkin’s promoter won a purse bid to stage the bout.

The Nevada-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Assn. [VADA] reported Povetkin’s positive test to the WBC after both fighters had signed on to the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program. Povetkin’s positive sample was taken on April 27, the WBC announced, and the sanctioning body has consulted the World Anti-Doping Agency about the result.

Citing its push for “safety, fair play and justice,” the WBC said in a statement emailed to reporters Friday that it was “conducting an in-depth investigation of this matter.”

Last month, after WBC super-featherweight champion Francisco Vargas of Mexico failed a VADA test for the weight-loss substance clenbuterol the California State Athletic Commission ruled that because Vargas may have ingested the substance accidentally while eating meat in Mexico, it would repeatedly test him up through his first title defense, June 4 at StubHub Center against countryman Orlando Salido, and let the fight proceed.

In the Povetkin case, the WBC said it would “make a public announcement in the very near future concerning the results of its investigation and any appropriate steps that it will take.”