Per Porky, Povetkin took meldonium after ban 3 negative prior PED tests

While the fight between heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder and mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin hangs in the balance after Povetkin's positive test for the banned substance meldonium, the assertion from Povetkin's promoter that it was in his system only because he took it late last year -- before it was banned -- appears untrue. After ESPN first reported on Friday that Povetkin tested positive for meldonium in an April 27 urine test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association in Chekhov, Russia, promoter Andrey Ryabinsky of World of Boxing told the Russian TASS news agency that "traces of extremely low concentration of meldonium have been found in his blood. He consumed it in September last year. He has not taken it since Jan. 1. The situation is ambiguous. The blood sample was taken in April this year. We have been in contact with the World Boxing Council, which is to decide if Povetkin's boxing bout against Deontay Wilder will take place or not." However, ESPN.com has obtained two separate written reports sent by VADA's president, Dr. Margaret Goodman, to both camps as well as the WBC, whose title Wilder holds, notifying them that Povetkin was negative for any banned substances in VADA-conducted tests on April 7, April 8 and April 11. So Povetkin, who has yet to ask for his B sample to be tested, apparently used meldonium between April 11 and his positive test on April 27. The letter Goodman sent disclosing the negative results on April 7 and April 8 was sent on April 21. The letter confirming the negative results on April 11 was sent on April 30. "The information you have obtained is accurate," promoter Lou DiBella, who represents Wilder, told ESPN.com on Saturday. "It also contradicts the public statements made by Mr. Ryabinsky attempting to excuse Povetkin's positive result. If there was a trace amount from 2015 in his system, it would have shown up in the other three tests in April that preceded the positive result. "This is a very serious PED because it wasn't on the (World Anti-Doping Agency) banned list until Jan. 1. This is the type of PED that results in extremely elevated stamina and a fighter performing like the Energizer bunny." Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Russia's Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs), are scheduled to meet May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow in a highly anticipated fight. Whether it will take place is unclear. It would be Wilder's fourth title defense. Wilder, 30, has been in Sheffield, England, for the past couple of weeks training while also trying to get used to the time change. He is scheduled to fly with his team to Moscow on Sunday. However, whether he will make the trip remains to be seen while he awaits a ruling from the WBC on what it plans to do about the fight; many involved believe it will be canceled. "There should be a ruling from the WBC, which we expect shortly," DiBella said. Ryabinsky could not be reached for comment. Meldonium is the same drug tennis star Maria Sharapova and several others recently tested positive for. WADA announced in September the addition of meldonium to the banned substance list, but the ban went into effect on Jan. 1. Meldonium is used because it is said to increase blood flow and carry more oxygen to muscles and, therefore, enhance stamina, a trait boxers would want in a long fight. Based on Ryabinsky's winning purse bid of $7.15 million, Wilder is due $4,504,500 to Povetkin's $1,930,500, while the remaining 10 percent -- $715,000 -- would go the winner. Purses generally are not paid if the fight does not happen, but if Wilder-Povetkin is canceled there likely will be lawsuits

Comments (20)

What? once again VADA caughts someone (which shows how questionable was Floyd's election of overpaying USADA) and you boobies somehow find a way of trying to make this fact play in Floyd's favour. VADA is way better than USADA. Yet the guy that came to "clean up the sport" was overpaying USADA for less strict testing. Come on boobies, you're better just posting :D :D faces... that's 80% of your posts. Stick to it. Regarding the topic, I've said several times that all the HWs are on PEDs. I don't know if Povetkin is still taking meldonium or if he stopped taking it when it was declared illegal, but I need more information from VADA about what's the threshold and so on. Damn povetkin has been taking this PED his while career

10y ago

_Maxi

I think it's pretty clear that Floyd paid VADA to frame Povetkin.... Just getting it out of the way because you know someone will post that sooner or later. _Maxi come get your boy Povetkin What? once again VADA caughts someone (which shows how questionable was Floyd's election of overpaying USADA) and you boobies somehow find a way of trying to make this fact play in Floyd's favour. VADA is way better than USADA. Yet the guy that came to "clean up the sport" was overpaying USADA for less strict testing. Come on boobies, you're better just posting :D :D faces... that's 80% of your posts. Stick to it. Regarding the topic, I've said several times that all the HWs are on PEDs. I don't know if Povetkin is still taking meldonium or if he stopped taking it when it was declared illegal, but I need more information from VADA about what's the threshold and so on.

10y ago

saintpat

I don't know the facts here as I just stumbled on this news now and don't yet know what to think, but you make great points here. You don't know the facts, which is why that sounds believable. What they aren't telling you is that "allowable" low level by WADA is for tests BEFORE MARCH 1, because there may have been athletes who took it before Jan. 1 (when it was placed on the banned list -- even though they sent out warnings in September that it was going to be banned so everyone could stop taking it immediately and, thus, test clean). Povetkin failed his test AFTER MARCH 1 -- almost a full two months after. His promoter said he hasn't take it for 8 months. Answer this: How does his promoter KNOW that he hasn't? Has Povetkin been under 24-hour surveillance since September? Of course not. So he has no idea when Sasha took it last. AND Povetkin also tested clean at least three times before then failing, which indicates he took it after the last clean test a couple weeks before. Apparently his masking or flushing agent didn't quite do the job. Almost certainly this was a random, unannounced test and he got popped.

10y ago

LoadedWraps

Yeah but you have to wonder why all these Russians are taking it Go Sharks!!!!! :headbang:

10y ago

aldo5408

I don't know the facts here as I just stumbled on this news now and don't yet know what to think, but you make great points here. Yeah but you have to wonder why all these Russians are taking it

10y ago

LoadedWraps

If he took the drug after the three previous tests his levels would be exponentially higher than 70 nanograms. This basically just suggests his levels are so low they show up clean most of of the time since blood tests have a margin of error. Anyone who has gone through drug testing or any medical diagnostic testing has observed this variability. This whole charade is starting to look fishy not from Povetkins end but from the other end. His levels are below the WADA threshold for trace remnants and they're still dragging it out. I don't know the facts here as I just stumbled on this news now and don't yet know what to think, but you make great points here.

10y ago

b00g13man

Are you talking about Maxi? Him or anyone of the other nutjobs that post here.

10y ago

aldo5408

I think it's pretty clear that Floyd paid VADA to frame Povetkin.... Are you talking about Maxi? Just getting it out of the way because you know someone will post that sooner or later. Are you talking about Maxi?

10y ago

aldo5408

_Maxi come get your boy Povetkin

10y ago

b00g13man

I think it's pretty clear that Floyd paid VADA to frame Povetkin.... Just getting it out of the way because you know someone will post that sooner or later.

10y ago

fourtheboys96

What is the WADA guideline on Meldonium? Is there a minimum allowable level considering this substance is very new in the list? Also it seems like there still no study on how long this substance stays on a body? And if this fight is postponed. Povetkin banned, who will wilder fight next?

10y ago

bballchump11

Just DiBella. 1. Adding his own opinions to the WADA reports. A clean test followed by a detection below the positive threshold doesn't mean he took it recently. Levels that low may have just gone undetected. That's DiBella slipping his own opinion into it, which journalists picked up. 2. Calling meldonium a "serious PED" when WADA itself was reluctant to ban it and half of its wikipedia page is DRs saying it has an effect as mild as drinking a caffinated soft drink. If WADA makes a definitive ruling and says he took it last week then fine. He tried to pull a fast one and got busted. But watching DiBella celebrate like the fight's called off and pump the situation up as much as possible is pretty pathetic. DiBella doesn't look like he's celebrating. It looks like he's pissed off

10y ago

5310

:haha: So you're saying VADA is out to get Povetkin? Or maybe Wilder/DiBella/Haymon paid the testers to get the champ off the hook from fighting in Russia? Just DiBella. 1. Adding his own opinions to the WADA reports. A clean test followed by a detection below the positive threshold doesn't mean he took it recently. Levels that low may have just gone undetected. That's DiBella slipping his own opinion into it, which journalists picked up. 2. Calling meldonium a "serious PED" when WADA itself was reluctant to ban it and half of its wikipedia page is DRs saying it has an effect as mild as drinking a caffinated soft drink. If WADA makes a definitive ruling and says he took it last week then fine. He tried to pull a fast one and got busted. But watching DiBella celebrate like the fight's called off and pump the situation up as much as possible is pretty pathetic.

10y ago

Nod

It's pretty clear he's clean. There's no way his levels are at 70 nanograms if he took the drug recently. Microdosing

10y ago

aldo5408

WADA says athletes who are found to have less than 1 mcg of meldonium in doping tests carried out before March 1, 2016, could be allowed to compete again. Tennis player Maria Sharapova and swimmer Yulia Efimova were two of around 40 Russian athletes who failed drug tests for meldonium. “If the anti-doping organization finds that the athlete could not reasonably have known or suspected that the substance would still be present in his/her body on or after 1 January 2016, then a finding of no fault or negligence may be made,” a press release from WADA stated. However, WADA said this was not an “amnesty,” rather it was an acceptance that organizations should take occurrences on a case by case basis. "In no way does this serve as an 'amnesty' for athletes that are asserted to have committed an anti-doping rule violation," WADA spokesman Ben Nichols told AP in an email. "Rather, it serves as guidance for how anti-doping organizations should assess the particular circumstances of each individual case under their jurisdiction." In the statement, WADA admitted that more tests need to be carried out to find out how long meldonium can remain in the blood stream, a point which has been argued by Russian Sports Minister Vitali Mutko. “In the case of meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiably find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established, on the balance of probabilities, that he or she ingested meldonium before 1 January 2016, could not reasonably have known or suspected the meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. In these circumstances, WADA considers there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete,” the statement continued. Athletes around the world were told meldonium was to be added to WADA’s list of banned substances in September 2015, while the ban came into effect on January 1, 2016. One of those who is set to gain from WADA’s decision is Sharapova. She said she had been taking meldonium for more than a decade because of health problems and was provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in March after announcing she had failed a test at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

10y ago

ShoulderRoll

This whole charade is starting to look fishy not from Povetkins end but from the other end. His levels are below the WADA threshold for trace remnants and they're still dragging it out. :haha: So you're saying VADA is out to get Povetkin? Or maybe Wilder/DiBella/Haymon paid the testers to get the champ off the hook from fighting in Russia?

10y ago

5310

It's still a legal drug, you moron. For people with heart problems. It was only banned this year because the testing community only recently realized that the Eastern Euros were using it to juice. Open your eyes you daft c*nt. You've been exposed for your lifestyle/fetish. I don't take any of your boxing opinions seriously knowing why you're here in the first place.

10y ago

Quiksilva

I hope the fight is still on...

10y ago

Tom_Cruise

Cancel the fight, ban Povetkin. He's a cheat. This. We all wanted to see the fight, but Povetkin has clearly been busted here.

10y ago

5310

Yeah I'd test him under the highest scrutiny. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it right now it seems clear that he cheated. It's pretty clear he's clean. There's no way his levels are at 70 nanograms if he took the drug recently.

10y ago