Povetkin-Rudenko set for July 1 in Moscow
Alexander Povetkin returns to action next month.
Heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (31-1, 23 KOs) may have failed one drug test after another in the last year-plus, but that apparently won’t keep him from continuing his fighting career. WBN reports that the 37-year-old Russian heavyweight will be taking on Ukraine’s Andrey Rudenko (31-2, 19 KOs) on July 1st at Moscow’s Russia Central Concert Hall.
The fight, being put on by World of Boxing, will be Povetkin’s first fight of 2017, and his first bout since stopping Johann Duhaupas last December. But, of course, it’s the failed drug tests that nixed his mandatory title shot against Deontay Wilder, and then another failed drug text which nixed his WBC final eliminator with Bermane Stiverne that Povetkin is most remembered for these days.
Povetkin would ultimately be fined and suspended by the WBC indefinitely for his repeated drug infractions, but that’s only bans Povetkin from participating in WBC sanctioned fights.
The Povetkin-Rudenko card will also host a co-feature between junior welterweights Eduard Troyanovsky and Michele Di Rocco.