By Alexey Sukachev

Ivan Kirpa, former welterweight contender and current head trainer of Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin, was stunned by the recent accusations that were voiced by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs).

Earlier this month, Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) demolished Mike Perez in 91 seconds in a WBC final eliminator. Wilder is defending his title in a few weeks against Eric Molina.

In a recent interview with USA Today, Wilder attributed Povetkin's recent streak of deadly knockout victories to performance-enhancing drugs, although Wilder offered no proof to support his assertion.

“I think he’s juicing. He’s looking too big,” Wilder said. “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.”

Povetkin's trainer was in disbelief.

“Surely, I would have never anticipated these types of rants from Wilder," said Kirpa to R-Sport. “It clearly says something about his weakness. I don’t really care much about what he says – he can say whatever he wants. Real talking is done in the ring. But saying such things won't do Wilder any favors."