By Yuri Tarantin

Former WBA 'regular' heavyweight world champion Alexander Povetkin is wondering if World Boxing Council  heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder was actually intending to follow through with their fight.

The fight was scheduled for May 21st, but it was postponed by the World Boxing Council when the sanctioning body revealed that Povetkin, an Olympic gold medal winner, had tested positive for banned substance meldonium in a late April pre-fight drug test.

Povetkin and his promoter, Andrei Ryabinsky, opened up his B-sample but that also came up positive for the banned substance. In both samples the level of meldonium was extremely minor.

The WBC has yet to make an official ruling on Povetkin. They are continuing their investigation. Povetkin will either remain in the mandatory position or get removed and suffer some form of punishment from the sanctioning body.

"The fact that he didn't [travel over to Russia] to fight with me when there was nothing decided yet [regarding the postponement of  the fight], it suggest to me that perhaps it was all planned and they were not even prepared to do the fight, I don't know," said Povetkin.

The WBC recently gave Wilder the right to conduct a voluntary defense, while they continue their investigation of Povetkin.

"I intend to prove my case, because I took nothing prohibited. I only took meldonium only when it had been legal. Once it was banned, I stopped eating it. I'm prepared to sue to claim the fight for the world championship and pass other tests. I previously took two or three other tests, which showed nothing, and the third or the fourth, I don't remember exactly - but it showed a very tiny fraction of meldonium - which means I did not consume any meaningful quantity of any kind."

Povetkin has a record of 30 wins (22 by KO) and suffered one defeat. Wilder has 36 fights in all, with 35 victories by knockout. Wilder is also a bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru