Aleksandr Povetkin

Aleksandr Povetkin’s path to the Olympic title was strange in that he had already been a professional boxing champion but since that championship had been won in kick-boxing it did not affect his eligibility to compete at Olympic level. Povetkin switched to the conventional style of boxing in 2000 and was Russian champion by the end of the year. He won the European Championship super-heavyweight gold medal in both 2002 and 2004 and won both the World Championship and the World Cup in 2003. His final amateur career record was 125 victories against just seven losses. He became a professional in 2005 and based himself in Germany where he ran up a series of victories and by 2009 was a leading contender for the World Heavyweight title.

In 2011, with Volodymyr Klychko having been promoted to WBA “Super-Champion”, Povetkin was matched with Uzbek Ruslan Chageav for the WBA’s regular heavyweight title after going on a run of 21 victorious fights. Povetkin won, defended the title on four occasions, before being widely outpointed by Klychko when the two met in Moscow in late 2013. Povetkin rebounded to win his next eight fights against good opposition before being soundly defeated by Anthony Joshua in a world title challenge in 2018. Povetkin fought on until a defeat in a rematch against Dillian Whyte brought an end to his career at the age of 41.

Unfortunately Povetkin’s later career was dogged by allegations of drug taking. A fight with Deontay Wilder in 2016 was cancelled when he tested positive for meldonium. His claim that the drug had remained in his system since he took it in September 2015, before WADA had banned its’ use, was disproved when he lost a claim for breach of contract and defamation in an American court case,

A prospective WBC eliminator with Bermane Stiverne was called off when he tested positive for ostarine and banned indefinitely by the WBC but he continued his career within Russia. Finally in 2024, having been appointed deputy governor of Vologda Oblast, it was revealed that Russian Anti-Doping authorities had not revealed the fact that Povetkin had also tested positive for ostarine before a 2014 fight with Carlos Takam.