By Igor Lazorin, tass

A new twist in the drug testing saga of Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin, who is accused of doping violations.

On Saturday, December 17, Povetkin knocked out France's Johann Duhaupas in six rounds. The non-title 10 round fight held in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg. 

Povetkin was originally scheduled to face Canada’s Bermane Stiverne for the interim WBC heavyweight title but the fight was canceled after Povetkin’s drug test from December 6th came back positive for Ostarine. The fight fell apart only a few hours before the event was scheduled to start.

Ostarine is a SARM substance, which athletes use during training. It builds up endurance, like anabolic steroids. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) put SARM substances on its prohibited items list in 2008.

But it's become known that Povetkin's drug test from December 13th, also taken by testing agency VADA, came up clean.

Additionally, Povetkin's team revealed that his positive sample, from the December 6th test, had only a minor trace of ostarine - [0,00000000001g] - which Povetkin's team suggests is evidence that he ingested the substance several months if not a year earlier either through food or some nutritional supplement. Povetkin's random test from November 15th also came up clean

"Just received a new sample on Povetkin from the voluntary testing association for doping, for December 13. Everything is clean, no doping," Ryabinsky stated.

This is the second positive test for Povetkin in the last seven months. He failed a drug test in the lead-up to his scheduled title fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder back in May. That fight was also canceled. The last time he tested positive was for meldonium, which became a banned substance in January of this year. Povetkin admitted to taking the drug last year when it was legal. In that matter, the WBC conducted an investigation and cleared him of any wrongdoing. The WBC has an ongoing investigation on what transpired last Saturday.