By Per Ake Persson

Former EBU light heavyweight champ Igor Michalkin defended the title on March 12 in France and beat Patrick Bois on points. This was a voluntary defence and second voluntary defence in France was lined up with Mehdi Amar as the opponent.

However, then the news arrived that Michalkin had tested positive for meldonium, a substance that got on the forbidden list beginning of this year.

Michalkin was not the only athlete who tested positive for this substance - the irony is that many experts in the field state that meldonium doesn't help at all.

Either way, Michalkin was suspended for two years by the EBU and was stripped of the title. Amar beat Sergey Demchenko to win the vacant EBU title and later lost it to Robert Stieglietz.

Michalkin is now however off the suspension - as are most "meldonium victims".  When and where the EC Boxing promoted Michalkin (18-1) will return is still up in the air though.

Stieglitz has Swede Erik Skoglund as mandatory challenger but he have a world title shot in sight if he wins against Timy Shala in December 9 and that could pave the way for a Stieglitz vs Michalkin showdown.