By Igor Lazorin, tass

Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin (31-1-0, 23 KO’s) believes Bermane Stiverne (25-3-1, 21 KO’s) had no intention of fighting him and didn't properly train for the fight. He felt Stiverne was out of shape and looking for any reason to get out of the fight.

On Saturday night at the Ekaterinburg Expo Center in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Povetkin was scheduled to face Stiverne for the WBC interim-title - and the fight was also sanctioned as a final eliminator. The winner would have become the mandatory challenger to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

But late Friday night, World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman revealed that Povetkin had tested positive for a banned substance.

Sulaiman announced on the social networks that he was informed by testing agency VADA, that Povetkin tested positive for ostarine, which is the same substance that Lucian Bute tested positive for in the aftermath of his draw against Badou Jack on April 30 at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C.

The WBC revealed to BoxingScene that Povetkin's positive reading stems from a test taken by VADA on December 6th.

The World Boxing Council issued a ruling late Friday night, that it was withdrawing it's sanction of the fight. Stiverne then withdrew from the fight and returned back home to Las Vegas.

It wasn't long before a last minute deal was reached with very late replacement Johann Duhaupas (34-3, 21KOs) - who Povetkin knocked out in six rounds.

"I think Stiverne probably did not want to fight. This was evident from the beginning. There was no desire burning in his eyes. And in general, it seems to me that he did not train," Povetkin said.

"What is the point of taking some dope to fail on the last test? That's pointless. I do not know how that got in my body. But when the information was learned [that I failed a test] I became very uncomfortable, very worried."

Back in May, Povetkin was scheduled to fight Wilder, but a few days before the fight was going to take place - it became known that Povetkin had tested positive for meldonium. Povetkin admitted to taking the drug last year, when it was still legal. The drug was officially listed as a "banned substance" in January of this year.

The WBC conducted a very long investigation, and they cleared Povetkin and approved him to take part in this eliminator with Stiverne. This time around Povetkin is going to face a very long suspension by the WBC if the sanctioning body finds him guilty of intentionally doping.