In anticipation of of the upcoming title defense at Wembley Stadium on September 22, unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and challenger Alexander Povetkin officially held their opening press conference yesterday which was captured by our friends at Fight Hub TV.
After Joshua had been in negotiations for an undisputed title unification with Deontay Wilder, the WBA swooped in with a 24 hour deadline to come to terms with Povetkin as a mandatory challenger, which conveniently let Joshua and his promoter off the hook in the short term as it pertains to Wilder.
Meanwhile Povetkin — who twice tested positive for banned substances in 2016 — maintains that despite the failed drug tests that nixed fights with Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne, he’s really a clean fighter. He’s been citing the trace amounts of banned substances he tested positive for as evidence that they weren’t enough to gain any benefits from and that he’s since been testing clean eversince.
Check out the video above for the full opening presser and a face off between the fighters.