By Ruslan Chikov
The fate of heavyweight Alexander Povetkin will be decided next week, says International Boxing Federation (IBF) president Daryl Peoples. The IBF president spoke with Russian reporter Alexander Pavlov and explained the reasons behind Povetkin losing his opportunity to fight IBF/IBO/WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko on September 11 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Peoples says Povetkin did not take part in any promotional activities and violated the IBF's order to sign contracts within 15 days of the purse bid. Samuel Peter, ranked at number two by the IBF, will now take Povetkin's place by fight Klitschko on September 11.
"We gave K2 permission to begin negotiations between Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter, who is next after Povetkin in the rankings. Mr. Povetkin violated several IBF rules and because of that he lost the right to fight with Klitschko. One rule states that Mr. Povetkin must do everything to facilitate promotion of a title fight, but he never made an appearance at a press conference in Germany. The second item that guided us - Mr. Povetkin did not sign a contract within the required 15-day period," Peoples said.
"This matter [with Povetkin] will be resolved after discussions with Chairman of the rating committee next week. Everything will be decided between Wednesday and Friday. However, Povetkin is no longer considered the mandatory challenger for the IBF title, now it will be Samuel Peter."
