A retired heavyweight who faced both Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko is facing the prospect of having a decade of results overturned after testing positive for a banned substance. Alexander Povetkin has reportedly had 10-years worth of accomplishments in the ring wiped from his record, which would include his victories against David Price, Carlos Takam, Mike Perez and Dillian Whyte.
The 45-year-old faced Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in September 2018, pushing the Brit all the way until he suffered a 7th-round knockout defeat to lose out on the chance at becoming the unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. He had also lost in a previous title tilt against Klitschko.
Povetkin secured a monumental upset victory over Whyte in August 2020, knocking ‘The Bodysnatcher’ out with a crushing left uppercut in the 5th-round.
They went on to face one another in a rematch seven months later, with Whyte gaining his revenge over the Russian with a 4th-round stoppage. The Russian has not fought since that defeat to Whyte, announcing his retirement from the sport in 2021 at the age of 41. Povetkin said a number of ‘re-occuring injuries’ led to him making this decision.
