By Edward Chaykovsky
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32KOs) returns next month in a voluntary title defense against Eric Molina.
Should Wilder win as many expect, he would then have to make a mandatory defense against Alexander Povetkin of Russia. Earlier this month Povetkin demolished Mike Perez is 91 seconds in a WBC final eliminator.
Wilder attributes Povetkin's recent streak of deadly knockout victories to performance-enhancing drugs, though Wilder offered no proof to support his assertion.
“I think he’s juicing. He’s looking too big,” Wilder told USA Today. “I have people that have trained him and know him, and being from a different country, they have different techniques that they use."
“He’s on some kind of steroids. But you know, that’s just my opinion. It’s not going to affect me when it’s time to fight and I’m looking forward (to fighting Povetkin). That’s how I feel. That could be the reason why (he dropped Perez so quickly). but we’re not taking anything from him and I can’t wait to be able to put my hands on him.”
When the fight with Povetkin is made, Wilder wants a very strict random drug testing protocol.
“There will definitely be strong drug testing . . . there will be not only blood, not only urine, he might even have to give a little sperm during the test or something,” Wilder said.