Retired Russian heavyweight (200+ lbs) Alexander Povetkin will remain out of the ring for some time to come after he was banned for four years by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED), specifically Ostarine―the same substance that led to a one-year suspension for American boxer Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s).
The charge stems from a thorough investigation conducted by the ITA, World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) which discovered that Povetkin had used Ostarine more than a decade ago in 2014―as ascertained from his drug results from a fight against French heavyweight Carlos Takam on October 24. In addition to the four-year ban, Povetkin’s fight results dating from 2014 to 2024 have all been disqualified. The ban has further been implemented since 21 October, 2024, and will expire on October 20, 2028.
As the ITA clarified, Povetkin had been subject of an investigation into “allegations of systemic doping practices in Russian sport“, with WADA Intelligence and Investigations Department (WADA I&I), the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and sports law professor Richard McLaren leading the forefront into surveying these allegations. Mclaren had also been a part of a separate investigation on the International Boxing Agency (IBA) which uncovered links of widespread corruption between the IBA and officials that participated in the Olympics, particularly the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Povetkin, 45, is best known for his world title challenge against Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, and a 2018 title bout against then-unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KO’s). His last fight took place in 2021 where he faced Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KO’s) in a rematch and was eventually stopped in the 4th round. Povetkin would retire that same year following his technical knockout (TKO) loss to Whyte. According to the ITA’s ruling, those matches will now be considered disqualified.
Notably, the investigation seems to have been prompted by the IBA which, as referenced earlier, has faced well-recorded allegations of corruption itself. Even more curiously, the IBA is well-known for its heavy ties with Russia through current Russian president Umar Kremlev, which contradicts the premise of the entire investigation which was built around probing doping accusations in Russian sports.
Despite the severe punishment, several questions continue to remain unanswered with the most glaring question remaining centered around the extremely long procedure into investigating and charging Alexander Povetkin. As the ITA admitted to investigating Povetkin as a part of a larger operation to uncover doping use in Russian sports, Povetkin appears to have been targeted due to his nationality rather than a sincere effort to eliminate doping in boxing.
This further highlights the lack of direction in boxing when it comes to doping offences with fighters such as Ryan Garcia, who was discovered to have used the same substance of Ostarine as Povetkin, received only a one-year suspension and is set to return to the ring this May.
Disturbingly, the ITA further put in a grandious amount effort for a retired boxer who already was unlikely to return and appears to have no interest in pursuing similar investigations into other fighters that have flagrantly abused the anti-doping rules, including Dillian Whyte―whose last PED-case continues to remain unclear, Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s), Ryan Garcia and a plethora of other boxers that have been caught with PEDs in their system over the past decade.
The entire case of Alexander Povetkin frames a situation that is very much an exception in boxing rather than the rule, with no anti-doping organizations expected to embark on the same amount of thoroughness or diligence as the ITA anytime soon given the widespread disregard of doping offences by fighters over the past two years.
Other than this discovery, Alexander Povetkin has had prior offenses for PED-use which also led to a ban in 2017. The year prior, Povetkin was also accused by the WBC for using Ostarine prior to a bout against American heavyweight Bermane Stiverne, leading to the cancellation of their bout. It was later argued by Povetkin’s promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky, that Povetkin’s drug tests came back negative while Stiverne himself failed a drug test for the substance Dimethylamylamine.
That same year, before his planned bout against Stiverne, the Russian also faced allegations of PED-use prior to a planned bout against another American fighter in then-WBC champion Deontay Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KO’s). The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) would later confirm he tested negative for any prohibited substance.
The retired boxer is currently entrenched in politics and now serves as the Deputy Governor for Russian state Vologda Oblast.