Alexander Povetkin was expected to lose a major chunk of his professional record after anti-doping authorities ruled that results dating back to 2014 should be disqualified.
That has yet to happen.
Despite a four-year period of ineligibility confirmed in 2025 and running until October 2028, Povetkin’s official boxing record remains unchanged across the sport’s main record books.
Povetkin suspension
The decision stems from an investigation led by the International Testing Agency on behalf of the International Boxing Association. The probe uncovered the presence of the banned substance ostarine in a sample Povetkin provided in 2014.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator associated with performance enhancement and muscle growth.
According to the ruling, Povetkin accepted the anti-doping violation and did not challenge the findings. The sanction imposed a four-year ban beginning on October 21, 2024, and running until October 20, 2028.
In addition, authorities stated that all results between October 25, 2014 and October 21, 2024 were to be disqualified.
The starting point of that period is the October 2014 bout in which Povetkin knocked out Carlos Takam in Moscow.
Fights still stand
If the ruling were implemented across boxing’s official records, it would remove twelve fights from the final stage of Povetkin’s career, including high-profile contests against several leading heavyweights.
The affected fights would be:
Carlos Takam (2014)
Mike Perez (2015)
Mariusz Wach (2015)
Johann Duhaupas (2016)
Andrii Rudenko (2017)
Christian Hammer (2017)
David Price (2018)
Anthony Joshua (2018)
Hughie Fury (2019)
Michael Hunter (2019)
Dillian Whyte (2020)
Dillian Whyte (2021)
Those bouts represent the most prominent years of Povetkin’s later career, including his world title challenge against Anthony Joshua and his dramatic WBC interim title knockout victory over Dillian Whyte in 2020.
Much has been written about the fallout surrounding the case and the sanction handed down to Povetkin, but not the strange lack of movement noted by WBN on his official record despite the ruling.
Despite the statement that these results would be disqualified, they continue to appear in full on boxing’s primary record sources, including BoxRec.
The site has increasingly begun listing suspensions and disciplinary actions in recent years, yet Povetkin’s profile still shows his complete professional record with no alterations.
At present, the former Olympic gold medalist remains listed with a career tally of 36 wins, three losses and one draw, with 25 knockouts, across forty professional fights.
If the twelve bouts identified in the anti-doping ruling were removed or changed to no contests, Povetkin’s official record would instead fall to roughly 24 wins, two losses and one draw, effectively ending his career statistics in May 2014 before the Takam fight.
The discrepancy leaves an unusual situation in boxing’s historical record. Povetkin received a formal suspension and public anti-doping ruling connected to the 2014 sample, yet the decade of results that was reportedly subject to disqualification continues to stand in the sport’s official record books.
For now, the record remains unchanged, a rare case where a high-profile sanction has not translated into changes to the results.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Read full bio.
