Russian Cruiserweight Soslan Asbarov Hit With Six-Year Ban For Doping Violation
Soslan Asbarov suffered a major blow to his once promising career.
The undefeated cruiserweight was also suspended for six years for violating Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) policy. Test samples were collected from Oct. 28th quarrel with Aleksei Papin came back to find something forbidden that was not mentioned.
Asbarov was previously credited with a ten-round, unanimous decision win over his compatriot in Moscow. Russian Boxing Federation manager Dmitry Antonov confirmed to The Ring that the decision was changed to No-Contest on April 15 when the test results were confirmed.
Antonov was not allowed to confirm the matter in question due to confidentiality clauses in place with RUSADA’s surveillance policy. RUSADA officials will only confirm to The Ring that the result was first received last Dec. 22, and was later confirmed.
“RUSADA issued a decision disqualifying athlete Soslan Asbarov for six years,” said a RUSADA spokesperson in The Ring. “The decision [was made] on April 15, 2024, with credit for the time served on the suspension [backdated to] December 22, 2023.”
Asbarov is currently ranked No. 8 at cruiserweight by The Ring, though that will soon change.
The 32-year-old boxer was found to be in violation of RUSADA Anti-Doping rules 4.1 (Presence of a Prohibited Substance or Its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete’s Sample) and 4.2 (Use or Attempted Use by an Athlete of a Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method). Both of these clauses leave the athletes fully responsible for any substance found in their program.
This development breaks the initial momentum of the two-year pro who quickly entered the fray.
Asbarov’s second win was an eight-round stoppage over veteran artist Dmitry Kudryashov in September 2022.
Six months later another cruiserweight bruiser won. Asbarov defeated Brandon Glanton in a ten-round majority decision last March 18 in Dubai. For now, it remains his last victory to date.
Asbarov knocked Papin down in the second round of their October 28 clash en route to a ten-round, unanimous decision. What he did caused him to drop in The Ring rankings, and Papin was dropped from the top ten. The matter is now being voted on by The Ring Ratings Panel, and Papin is expected to re-enter the review this week.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
