Jury Finds Povetkin Guilty in Wilder Lawsuit

Deontay Wilder didn’t get the chance to beat Alexander Povetkin in the ring, but he did defeat him in court.

Promoter Lou DiBella sent out a Tweet on Monday afternoon that indicated a jury in a Manhattan federal court ruled in favor of Wilder in the WBC heavyweight champion’s breach-of-contract lawsuit against Povetkin and his promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky. Wilder sued for $5 million in damages because their May 21 fight in Moscow was canceled due to Povetkin’s postitive test for meldonium, a banned performance-enhancing drug.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael confirmed that the Manhattan jury decided that Povetkin did indeed use the banned substance meldonium after it was banned in January.

Wilder was supposed to make $4.5 million for that title defense, his split of a purse bid won by Russia’s Ryabinsky. The WBC canceled the Wilder-Povetkin fight six days before it was supposed to take place.

Russia’s Povetkin (31-1, 23 KOs), who attended the trial, was the mandatory challenger for Wilder’s title when he tested positive. Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs), who also attended the trial, is scheduled to make an optional defense of his title against Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) on February 25 in Birmingham, Alabama (FOX).

Stay tuned for more details on the Wilder vs. Povetkin lawsuit.