Janibek Alimkhanuly fails drug test for meldonium, Erislandy Lara fight canceled
Erislandy Lara will instead defend his belt against Johan Gonzalez.
Janibek Alimkhanuly’s long-desired unification bout with Erislandy Lara is off after “Qazaq Style” tested positive for the banned substance meldonium. Per reports, Lara will instead defend his WBA middleweight title against Johan Gonzalez, who got smashed by Yoenis Tellez last year but bounced back with a split decision over the incredibly shot Jarrett Hurd in March.
Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) claimed surprise at the result and requested his B-sample be tested.
Meldonium is among the most common culprits in Russia’s lengthy and ongoing doping scandal, beginning with tennis great Maria Sharapova in 2016 and infamously scuttling Alexander Povetkin’s planned clash with Deontay Wilder that same year. It’s cropped up in hundreds of failed tests at all levels of competition over the last decade across Eastern Europe, with Medical News Today specifically naming Kazakhstan as a country in which it is used for medical purposes.
Alimkhanuly currently holds the WBO and IBF titles at 160; the former announced an “internal investigation” soon after news broke, while the latter has yet to release a public statement.
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