Roach Says Alexander Povetkin is a Honest Guy, Good Athlete

By Igor Lazorin, tass

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach was present at Monday's press conference in Moscow, Russia - where World of Boxing CEO Andrei Ryabinsky met with the media to discuss the situation with Olympic gold medal winner and former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin.

Povetkin was scheduled to have a mandatory fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on Saturday night. The World Boxing Council officially put a stop to the contest after Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.

The show will still move forward with Denis Lebedev and Victor Ramirez colliding in the mian event, in an IBF/WBA cruiserweight title unification. Roach is the head trainer of Lebedev.

Povetkin's promoter claims his fighter took the drug when it was still legal, last September. The drug became a banned substance on January 1st of this year. But three of Povetkin's test in the first half of April came up negative for the drug, with the fourth coming up positive late in the month. Based on that scenario, it is being claimed that he came in contact with the drug at some point in late April.

Ryabinsky maintains the contest with Wilder is going to take place on another date, with the same conditions, or he will pursue a legal action to make the fight take place. The Russian promoter won a purse bid earlier this year to secure the promotional rights to the contest.

"The situation is ambiguous, because at one point meldonium.was allowed and now it's banned," said Roach. "But I know Alexander a little bit, and he is an honest guy and a good athlete. I'm not sure if we're going to see this fight [between Wilder and Povetkin]. If it does happens, it's going to be a very big fight."