Toronto dad unaware if son, Boston bombing suspect linked

The father of a Canadian boxer who was killed by Russian security forces while fighting for an Islamic extremist group in Dagestan said he does not know if his son had any contact with one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Vitaly Plotnikov, whose son William was shot and killed in July 2012, said he had lost contact with his son when he left for Russia.

"Somebody is like, 'William boxer, Tamerlan boxer, maybe there [was] contact," Vitaly Plotnikov told CBC News. "I don't know. Maybe, maybe. I didn't get [any] news from William when he went to Dagestan. He never contacted me.

"Maybe William, online sometime speak with him or each other. I don't know. No idea, because William not speak with me. Never."

A Russian news agency recently reported that William Plotnikov,an ethnic Russian who resided inToronto andwas a Canadian citizen, may have had contact withTamerlan Tsarnaev, who along with his brother are suspected in the April 15 bombings.

• Experts divided on Russian connection to Boston bombing

Tsarnaevspent six months in the Dagestan region in 2012, around the same time William Plotnikov was there.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had roots in Dagestan and neighbouring Chechnya, but had lived in the U.S. for about a decade.

Just days after the Boston Marathon bombings, Tamerlanwas killed in Boston in an exchange of gunfire with police. Dzhokhar is currently in custody, charged in the bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 200.

• Russia's Caucasus: A history of unrest

Vitaly Plotnikov said he did not knowifhis sonhad extremist views or when he may have adopted them.

He said his sonwas an accomplished boxer who suddenly converted to Islam around 2008, but talked little about his new religion.

"He had lots of friends and girlfriends. Suddenly finished. No friends, no father,no mother. Onlyroom and pray. Thats it. What happened? Who can change his mind?"

Vitaly said that he and his wife went to Florida on vacation in 2010, while his son stayed in Toronto. But when they came back, his son had left a note that he had gone to France for Ramadan.They later found out he was in Russia.