Alexander Besputin tests positive for banned substance

Alexander Besputin has tested positive for a banned substance, ESPN reports, and has been made aware of the result by the Monaco Boxing Federation a little less than two months following his win in Monte Carlo over Radzhab Butaev.

Besputin (14-0, 9 KO) captured the WBA’s secondary “world” welterweight title with the victory, and is promoted by Top Rank, who tell ESPN they’re aware of the situation and speaking with Besputin’s team.

Besputin, a 28-year-old Russian southpaw now based in Oxnard, California, tested positive for Ligandrol, a SARM that can stimulate muscle growth and is on the World Anti-Doping Association list of prohibited drugs. Other athletes have tested positive for Ligandrol, including NBA player Joakim Noah, who had a 20-game suspension in 2017 for a failed test.

The WBA and other necessary organizations will obviously be on top of this, and there should be some sort of official word about the situation soon enough. Butaev tells ESPN that he still wants a rematch, though this time with a “level playing field,” calling the failed test “a disgrace and disrespectful to the sport of boxing.”