By Igor Lazorin, tass

The International Boxing Federation [IBF] has officially exonerated Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin of any wrongdoing, according to the CEO of the World of Boxing, Andrey Ryabinsky.

Earlier today, the IBF reinstated Povetkin to their official ratings, where the Russian boxer now holds the 13th position. Povetkin is a former WBA "regular" heavyweight champion and a 2004 Olympic gold medal winner.

"Yes, this is so. Another boxing federation has removed all charges against Povetkin," Ryabinsky said.

A few weeks ago, the WBA and the WBO both embraced Povetkin back into their official ratings.

A few months ago, the WBC and the IBF suspended Povetkin from their ratings, whereas the WBO refused to return the prize fighter to their rankings after he had tested positive for ostarine last December. The WBA did not comment on the incident, but Povetkin was not on ranking list.

The doping test which Povetkin failed was taken on December 6, 2016, before a match in Yekaterinburg against Canada’s Bermane Stiverne for the interim-WBC world championship - but after Povetkin failed his test the contest was eventually cancelled when the WBC withdrew their sanction. Prior to that, a May 2016 showdown between Povetkin and WBC champion Deontay Wilder was also cancelled, because traces of meldonium had been found in a random drug test test.

On July 1, Povetkin (32-1, 23 KOs) defeated Andriy Rudenko (31-3, 19 KOs) of Ukraine by a twelve-round unanimous decision and captured the WBO International and WBA Continental heavyweight titles.