More made up nonsense. It was delayed for several months. When Povetkin said that he took the meldonium before It was banned, because It couldn’t be known for sure when he took it, they kept him as #1 challenger but ordered another eliminator against Stiverne as a middle ground, which was supposed to happen 7 months after the originally scheduled title bout against Wilder. But this time, he popped for ostarine. It had nothing to do with Wilder wanting him or not.
That's true, but what's often forgotten is that Stiverne was also popped for a banned substance in the lead up to that fight, so why was he then allowed to fight Wilder with no interim bouts? Neither man should have been eligible, surely?
Stiverne didn’t test positive before the Wilder fight. He popped before the Povetkin fight. He made the contamination excuse, team Povetkin said they believed him and wanted to fight to go ahead. Just please quit making **** up people.
Making what up? I never said he popped dirty for the Wilder fight. I said he popped dirty for the Povetkin fight (hence my use of the words "that" and "then") but was still allowed to fight Wilder. Whether Povetkin's team were happy for the fight to go ahead or not has no bearing on why Wilder or the WBC allowed Stiverne to fight him. I'm asking why they did so, considering he officially popped dirty in the fight prior. Shouldn't that have disqualified him from mandatory position, or whatever status he held before the Povetkin bout was signed? It did for Whyte.
His contamination excuse was accepted as valid,(as was Canelo’s, or Ortiz’s or Povetkin’s when he tested positive for meldonium) but all that aside, the only reason he was made mandatory because he was with Don King. If you’re asking my opinion, then I agree that when a fighter tests positive for a banned substance, they should be removed from all the rankings. Even if It was due to contamination.
So would you agree that Wilder's decision to fight him in 2017 but not Povetkin back in 2016 was an inconsistent one?
Dude, It wasn’t Wilder’s decision, It was WBC’s decision. And Povetkin tested positive just a week before their scheduled fight, and he wasn’t removed from the rankings until he failed a second test within a year. Stiverne tested positive in his previous fight before he was made mandatory. As ****ed up as It was for him to be prompted to mando spot, situations were different.
It's quite simple. WBC write down some rules with pretence of being a proper governing body. If the situation doesn't suit their protected fighter at the time they ignore said rules. That's it really.
OK. Would you then say that one of the parties (Wilder or the WBC) was in the wrong for not rescheduling that first Povetkin fight?
Yes, once they gave him a pass for meldonium, they should’ve just rescheduled the fight with Wilder instead of ordering another eliminator. Obviously Sasha ****ed it up again and destroyed all the benefit of the doubt he got.
Yes, agreed on that. I didn't believe he was clean the first time, but I respect protocol except in the case that it's inconsistently applied, as it seems to be have been in this case.
Wow ... I was really looking forward to Povetkin-Wilder. Probably the fight I've been most disappointed about not happening in the last 5 years.