By Jake Donovan

From the moment Deontay Wilder entered training camp for his planned May 21 title defense versus Alexander Povetkin, he knew all along that he would spend the last two weeks of camp in England before boarding a plane to his next destination on the Sunday ahead of fight week.

Wilder’s fourth defense of his heavyweight title will have to come another day, as BoxingScene.com was informed on Sunday that his fight with Povetkin is officially postponed.

"The World Boxing Council is diligently addressing the positive test result from the Clean Boxing Program for mandatory heavyweight challenger Alexander Povetkin," said WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. "Keeping the priority of safety and also the principle of justice, the WBC will continue the investigation into the case. Consequently, the event scheduled for May 21 in Moscow is hereby officially postponed."

The bout was due to headlined at Megasport Arena in Moscow, Russia, atop a loaded card that -for the moment – will still proceed as planned. The most significant supporting contest is a cruiserweight title unification showdown between local powerpuncher Denis Lebedev and Argentina’s Victor Ramirez.

As for the evening’s original centerpiece, the heavyweight clash was first placed in jeopardy upon learning that Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance Meldonium. All involved parties were left in limbo until an official decision was made by the World Boxing Council (WBC), whose heavyweight title was at stake.

Both camps previously pleaded their case to the WBC, who gathered as much information as was required before making a final call on the now canceled fight.

Povetkin (30-1, 22KOs) had previously produced at least three clean tests during the early stages of random drug testing as conducted by Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA). However, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist and longtime contender from Chekhov, Russia came up dirty according to the results of his “A” sample submitted on April 27.

VADA founder and chairperson Dr. Margaret Goodman has repeatedly stated that her agency has no authority on whether or not to cancel any given contest based on test results. What the Las Vegas-based company provides, is state-of-the-art random testing, with such findings reported to both camps and the presiding commission.

One strict policy within the agency is the removal of any athlete once they test positive. Because Povetkin’s dirty sample came so late into the promotion, there was little that could be done in the way of subsequent testing through a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited agency in efforts to produce enough clean tests to allow the fight to be sanctioned.

Wilder (36-0, 35KOs) was due to make the fourth defense of the heavyweight title he claimed in a landslide 12-round win over Bermane Stiverne last January. The night marked the lone time in his career in which he’s been forced to go to the scorecards, having returned to the knockout column with stoppage victories in each of his three successful defenses.

Two have come in his home state of Alabama, as part of a career that has been loaded with significant milestones. Wilder remains the last American male boxer to medal in the Olympics, having won the bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games. His win over Stiverne made him the first American in more than seven years to lay claim to a heavyweight title.

The first defense of his reign came in front of a sold-out crowd at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, less than an hour from his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Wilder overcame rough patches to knock out Eric Molina in nine rounds last June, as the Showtime-televised event marked the first time in history a heavyweight title fight was staged in Alabama.

His next trip home came just three months later, stopping France’s Johann Duhaupas in the 11th round of the first heavyweight title fight in 30 years to air live in primetime on NBC.

Wilder’s most recent feat came in a highlight reel 9th round knockout of Artur Szpilka this past January in front of a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Among the ringside observers were Povetkin and promoter Andriy Ryabinsky, who ultimately won the rights to the mandatory title fight with a winning bid of $7.15 million during a purse bid hearing in late February.

The result meant Wilder would become the first ever American to defend the heavyweight title in Russia, although that piece of history is indefinitely on hold.

The timing of when he was caught is separate from the circumstances surrounding another WBC title fight tainted by recent drug test results. Defending super featherweight titlist Francisco Vargas recently tested positive for Clenbuterol six weeks out from his June 4 showdown with former two division champ Orlando Salido.

Clenbuterol is used by body builders during the weight cutting cycle, but is also at the forefront of a contaminated meat dilemma that has plagued Vargas’ native Mexico. He’d previously tested negative while training in the U.S., but produced a positive test – for trace amounts well below the normal amount for athletes who’ve used the substance with intent to cheat – upon his first night back home in Mexico.

An argument was made by his team that the adverse finding stemmed from meat used by his mother in preparing a homemade meal of beef stew. The California State Athletic Commission didn’t validate the alibi outright, but was sympathetic to the point of tentatively allowing the fight to proceed – with the blessing of Salido and the WBC – but only on the condition that he immediately enroll in the testing of their choosing and not produce another dirty test between tat point and fight night.

Vargas has since produced three clean samples, according to a recent news report from Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.

Povetkin was not in a similar decision to enter such a contingency plan. Instead, his team has taken a different approach, one that the media and boxing public hasn’t quite digested.

Meldonium was commonly used amongst athletes in Eastern Europe, but was placed on the banned list by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as of January 1, 2016. In prescription form, the substance is used as an anti-ischemia medication, used to improve blood flow.

Povetkin’s team openly admit that the boxer had previously taken the substance as recent as last fall prior to his 12th round stoppage win over Mariusz Wach last November, at a time when it was still legal to use the substance. The victory was his fifth straight – all by knockout – following the lone loss of his career when he came up well short in his Oct. ’13 title bid versus then-champion Wladimir Klitschko.

“Alexander Povetkin used to take [M]eldonium in September last year, when the drug was permitted,” noted promoter Andriy Ryabinsky through World of Boxing’s verified social media account. “Povetkin has not been taking this drug since January, but theoretically [M]eldonium could remain in the blood.”

While there have been cases of banned substances remaining in an athlete’s system for long periods of time, the most extreme cases of this particular supplement lingering have come in athletes who’ve tested positive in early March.

Also troubling is the fact that both boxers have been enrolled in VADA testing for this title fight since April 1, with both having taken multiple tests. Povetkin has come up negative on at least three prior occasions during that period - April 7, April 8 and April 11, according to VADA letters to both camps that have since been leaked to the media – prior to April 27.

With the canceled fight will also come a suspension as well as Povetkin not being able to participate in a WBC-sanctioned event for a period of time to be determined.

"The WBC will be releasing more information in the coming days regarding the final ruling on the matter," Sulaiman confirmed.

While plenty of discussion has taken place among Team Wilder whether or not to even consider going through with the fight since Friday, what has yet to come to surface is plans for his next fight.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2