Guys please give your honest opinion on Alexander Headvetkin.

Dirty9 found a way to talk to me without talking to me lmfao. Diiiiirty Dirrrrrty9 lol

 

The Russians have taken over the poll. Headvetkin is clean lolz...

 

Allowing Alexander Povetkin to fight after testing positive is not boxing's greatest moment
Alexander Povetkin was allowed to fight despite failing a VADA test for the muscle-building substance ostarine. Dmitry Korotayev/Kommersant Photo/Getty Images
Dec 21, 2016

• 
  Dan RafaelESPN Senior Writer

What happened at the Ekaterinburg Expo Center in Russia on Saturday is a blight on boxing and shows just how filthy the sport can be.

It was there that Russian regulators -- who don't seem to do much regulating -- allowed a fight to go forward between tainted Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin and France's Johann Duhaupas.

There is so much wrong with what happened. It was unconscionable, but not surprising. Just look at all the recent Olympic results reversed because of Russia's state-sponsored doping program.




Povetkin fails drug test; Stiverne fight canceled
Heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin failed his second drug test in seven months, forcing his vacant interim world title fight against Bermane Stiverne to be canceled.



Povetkin was supposed to fight former world titleholder Bermane Stiverne for the vacant WBC interim title, which was available because full titleholder Deontay Wilder is recovering from hand and biceps surgeries and was unavailable to make his mandatory defense.

Keep in mind that Wilder was about to head to Moscow for that mandatory defense against Povetkin on May 21. But a little more than a week beforehand, the fight was canceled because Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance meldonium in a test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, the most credible testing agency in boxing.

Povetkin ultimately got off on a technicality and was paired with Stiverne, who himself had recently been popped for the banned stimulant DMAA in a VADA test. The WBC allowed Stiverne to remain in the fight and never truly punished Povetkin because of the technicality.

Neither decision was the WBC's crowning moment.

"I was shocked when I heard the news, but when I arrived back home I thought about how it all played out and I added two plus two. It all came together. Beginning [last] Tuesday, they told me they have a replacement if I pull out of the fight, and they kept saying it throughout the week. I actually thought it was something just to distract me. But they seemed to know about it all week."

Bermane Stiverne
But when Povetkin failed a VADA test for the banned muscle-building substance ostarine -- a result that came to light about 20 hours before the bout with Stiverne was to take place -- the WBC did the right thing and withdrew its sanction. Really, it had no choice. Otherwise, what is the purpose of its VADA-run Clean Boxing Program?

With Povetkin testing positive, Stiverne withdrew since the only reason he took the fight was because of the belt at stake. Without it he saw no reason to fight, even though it cost him his $1,424,250 purse and a chance to add a $316,500 winner's bonus.

Still, Russian regulators left the choice in Stiverne's hands and did not take down the fight. Even though Povetkin's dirty test came to light publicly within a day of the bout, it would be foolish to believe that Povetkin and his promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky, did not know what was going on.

There is no other explanation for how an opponent the level of Duhaupas -- who was coming off an April knockout of Robert Helenius and went 11 hard rounds with Wilder in a 2015 title fight loss -- was somehow available and ready to go on 20 hours' notice, and just so happened to be in Ekaterinburg.

Former heavyweight titleholder Bermane Stiverne left Russia after learning of Alexander Povetkin's failed test. Steve Marcus/Getty Images
With a blind eye to the bad test, Russian regulators allowed Povetkin-Duhaupas to go forward while Stiverne was on his way to the airport and headed home to Las Vegas. In retrospect, Stiverne said he realized something sinister was going on.

"I was shocked when I heard the news, but when I arrived back home I thought about how it all played out and I added two plus two. It all came together," Stiverne said. "Beginning [last] Tuesday, they told me they have a replacement if I pull out of the fight, and they kept saying it throughout the week. I actually thought it was something just to distract me. But they seemed to know about it all week.

"Then on Saturday morning, after breakfast, I went to my room to lay down and get some rest. That was when I got word of what had happened, so I called everyone on my team to my room and got [promoter] Don [King] on the phone. Then [WBC president] Mauricio Sulaiman called, apologizing profusely, and told me it was my decision but they will no longer be sanctioning the fight because 'our No. 1 priority is safety.'

"That was all I need to hear. The only reason I came over here was to fight for the title."

"It's sad but this guy, Povetkin, has become a total embarrassment. He's now tested positive in two WBC heavyweight title fights in a row. I'm all for winning and losing fights in the ring, but it's time for justice to prevail. I don't know what's going on over there with so many Russian athletes in so many sports testing positive for drugs, but it has to stop."

 

Don King
Stiverne acknowledged his own failed test, but he emphasized -- and he is right about this -- Povetkin's positive test was the result of a muscle-building PED and Stiverne's came from a banned substance in an over-the-counter energy drink that he took in front of the VADA collector and never denied it.
"They spoke about how I failed a test," Stiverne said. "But I told them that is two different things. Mine was a five-hour energy drink and [Povetkin] is shooting up. So we got online and got an earlier flight so we could get out of Ekaterinburg right away. There were people following us since the moment we arrived. It's hard to explain, but it was like we were in a movie, so we discreetly left the hotel and made it to the airport.
"While we were at the airport, I hear that Povetkin is fighting a French guy. They knew all along he was going to test positive. I now leave the matter to Don King and Mr. Sulaiman."
King said he wants Stiverne to be handed the interim title, although I do not agree with that.

Alexander Povetkin's fight against heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder was canceled in May due to a Povetkin's positive test. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
"It's sad but this guy, Povetkin, has become a total embarrassment," King said. "He's now tested positive in two WBC heavyweight title fights in a row. I'm all for winning and losing fights in the ring, but it's time for justice to prevail. I don't know what's going on over there with so many Russian athletes in so many sports testing positive for drugs, but it has to stop. They cannot be allowed to continue to do things the way they are.
"The WBC should declare Stiverne [interim] world champion, make him the mandatory for Wilder, and let's move on with it. There are a lot of great heavyweight fights that can be made with willing boxers who don't break the rules every fight.
"I'm very disappointed for Bermane, who's now gone through two training camps with nothing to show for it. Why put up all that money for travel and expenses and then have no fight? He was ready to beat Povetkin and regain a part of the WBC title. And then -- worse yet -- for them to try and put it on Bermane for not fighting is just ludicrous. They're taking the victim and trying to set him up as the criminal in this."
Sulaiman, recently re-elected to another four-year term as WBC president, has not been perfect in this situation, having allowed Povetkin to skate from his first offense and not punishing Stiverne in any meaningful way for his bad test. But I have had several conversations with him on the topic of doping, and I believe he is trying to do the right thing for boxing and the WBC.
Nobody forced Sulaiman to champion the Clean Boxing Program, but he believes it is important to do his part in cleaning up the doping problem in boxing. If a fighter wants to be a WBC titleholder, fight for a title or be ranked, he must enroll in the CBP and be available 24/7 for VADA testing. Sulaiman could have ignored the problem, but he didn't -- and it has cost the WBC two major sanctioning fees this year with the cancellation of Wilder-Povetkin and Povetkin-Stiverne.

"The WBC feels very good and strong about what we are doing," Sulaiman told me. "It is creating a huge burden on the organization, but we will find ways to survive."
Sulaiman said there will be an investigation of the Povetkin situation. I hope it will result in his banishment from the WBC rankings for a good long while after his double-test failure this year. I also hope the WBC and all sanctioning bodies refuse to sanction fights in Russia, if nobody there cares whether a fighter is juiced up.
While Stiverne was on his way home, Povetkin, dirty for the second time this year, got into the ring, made money and brutally knocked Duhaupas out cold in the sixth round.
Someday, a boxer with PEDs coursing through his veins will score another gargantuan knockout. The opponent might die. If that happens, what will be the excuse for allowing the fight to take place?

 

Just want everyone to know the real deal lol... Disgusting. Duhaupus still took the fight on days notice. That's the danger of the sport.