By Igor Lazorin, tass
Former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. has come out in support of his countryman, Alexander Povetkin or Russia, in the ongoing doping scandal related to the mandatory clash with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
Jones, who received Russian citizenship last year, says Povetkin should not be blamed for the current mess related to that fight.
Povetkin, an Olympic gold medal winner and former WBA world champion, was scheduled to fight Wilder on May 21. The fight was postponed by the World Boxing Counil after minor traces of meldonium were found in Povetkin's drug test from late April.
The WBC ordered on Wednesday that Wilder would be allowed to make a voluntary defense while they continue to investigate the entire matter with Povetkin. Once the investigation has concluded, the sanctioning body will either remove Povetkin from his mandatory position or keep him in place with the Wilder fight being re-ordered.
The substance in question was legal up until it's official ban on January 1 of this year. Povetkin claims he took the substance last fall as he prepared for his fight with Mariusz Wach in November. Povetkin's version of the story is under question, because three separate drug tests in early April did not show any traces of meldonium.
"It's a difficult situation, and we were very worried because everything went wrong. He probably didn't know that it takes time for it (meldonium) to completely leave your body. The situation (with the use of meldonium) was considered normal because it was only illegal at the start of this year, and he didn't have enough time to clean up his body before the fight," Jones said.
The 36-year-old Russian has a record of 30 wins (22 by KO) and suffered one defeat. Wilder has won 36 fights in all with no defeats, and he scored knockouts in almost all of his victories (35 by knockout). He is also a bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games.