By Igor Lazorin, tass

The World Boxing Council (WBC) will make a decision on the pending case of Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin by July 12th, according to Povetkin's legal counsel Alexey Karpenko.

Povetkin was scheduled to face WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on May 21 in Moscow, but Povetkin tested positive for meldonium, and that forced the WBC to postpone the fight indefinitely for an investigation. Povetkin was tested on May 17th by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and came up clean. He also tested negative in three tests prior to the failure in question.

Wilder was cleared to make a voluntary defense by the WBC and he is now scheduled to defend his belt against Chris Arreola on July 16th in Birmingham, Alabama

On Wednesday night, Povetkin held a meeting with representatives of the WBC and presented his case in the matter. Povetkin, still ranked as the mandatory challenger to Wilder, is trying to keep that world title opportunity in place and also looking to avoid a potential suspension from the sanctioning body.

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"The WBC held a hearing with Povetkin, his doctors and lawyers," said Karpenko. "The WBC representatives have promised to make a decision within the next two weeks, Alexander gave an explanation as to why in his fourth drug test they discovered a microscopic fraction of meldonium. He had his doctor speak as well. The attorneys pushed his position as well, with reference to the documents and explanations from WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency)."

"Our position was that these residual traces of meldonium are from 2015, which appear and disappear. They would not affect anything [in the fight], and there was no use of meldonium in January 2016, and five to four tests in the same lab confirm that the boxer is clean, so we insist that the fight [with Wilder] go forward."