By Jim Dower: Saul Canelo Alvarez has been suspended temporarily by the Nevada State Athletic Commission until April 10 due to his two positive tests for the banned substance clenbuterol last February. Canelo will have to meet with the Nevada Commission on April 10 for them to make a final decision on his case.
As of now, Canelo’s rematch against middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is still taking place on May 5 on HBO PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The end of Canelo’s temporary suspension of April 10th is cutting it close to the May 5th fight date. If the Commission cancels the fight in their full hearing on the 10th of April, it would mean that both fighters will have wasted almost an entire training camp preparing for the fight.
The Nevada Commission met with Canelo and Golovkin’s promoters on Friday to discuss the positive tests, and they chose to suspend the Mexican star. The Nevada Commission will have a full hearing of Canelo’s case on April 10 to decide whether to extend his suspension beyond the May 5th date of the fight.
”Mr. Alvarez is temporarily suspended for his adverse analytical finding, and an April 10 meeting with the Nevada Athletic Commission will fully address this adverse analytical finding,” Nevada Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett told the latimes.com.
Canelo has tested negative for banned drugs since his last two positive tests, but the Nevada Commission still had to suspend him temporarily. Canelo and Golovkin are permitted to train for the May 5th rematch. It hasn’t been canceled as yet.
Canelo had met with the Nevada Commission earlier this month and given sworn testimony about his positive tests on February 17 and 20. The Commission spoke with anti-doping experts, according to Lance Pugmire.
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler is still interested in having his fighter face Canelo on May 5 if the Nevada Commission give him the green light to fight at their full hearing on April 10.
Golovkin has been informed of Canelo’s suspension, and “He’s going to train even harder for a knockout,” Loeffler said to the latimes.com.
There’s a lot of money that will be lost by both fighters as well as Las Vegas if the Canelo-GGG 2 fight is cancelled due to Canelo receiving another suspension by the Nevada Commission.
Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy say he his positive tests were from him eating contaminated meat in Mexico.
Golovkin wanted Canelo to be strapped up and put on a lie detector test. ”Check him on a lie detector and then we find out everything,” Golovkin said. ”Then there won’t be any silly questions about meat, fruit, chocolate. This guy, he knows.”
The problem with a lie detector test is it’s not accurate enough or it to be of any use, and the Commission doesn’t use that method for their fact finding.
This is not good news for Canelo, Golden Boy Promotions for the boxing public, who have been looking forward to the May 5th rematch between Canelo and Triple G. Although the Canelo-GGG fight is still taking place on May 5th as of now, there’s a chance that it could be canceled when the Commission meets with Canelo on April 10. It’s likely the Nevada Commission will consult with their anti-doping experts to learn more about the levels that clenbuterol that was found in Canelo’s two positive tests.
What’s unclear is what the levels of clenbuterol are in a person’s system after they’ve consumed tainted meat on two of three occasions. If Canelo’s levels of clenbuterol where within the range of someone who has eaten contaminated meat, then that would support his excuse that he was accidentally exposed to the drug. However, if the levels of clenbuterol in Canelo’s system were higher than what you would see from someone having eaten contaminated meat, then it would suggest something is not right with his explanation for his positive test.
Canelo gave sworn testimony with the Commission during his meeting with them, according to Lance Pugmire. If his story doesn’t check out with the levels of clenbuterol in his body during the two positive tests, then the Commission will have to decide whether his story accurate.
Canelo and Golovkin fought to a highly controversial 12 round draw on September 16 last year in Las Vegas. The May 5th rematch was to clear up the controversy of that fight. Both fighters have states that they plan on knocking each other out. However, it’s possible that it could be the Nevada Commission that scores the knockout if they suspend Canelo further when they meet with him on April 10th.
Showtime commentator Paulie Malignaggi says he’s not surprised that Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol, as he felt it was obvious that he’d been using a performance enhancing drug.
“There’s a lot of things I don’t say anymore in boxing,” Paulie Malignaggi said to ES News Reporting. “There’s a lot of [expletive] going on. If it took a failed drug test for you to actually think that Canelo is just starting to be dirty, watch bowling. Don’t even watch boxing. If it took a failed drug test for you to actually realize Canelo is on something. That’s like thinking Lance Armstrong was clean when nobody had caught him when was winning 17 Tour de Frances and going in the Alps and flying when everybody else was slowing down. If you’re that stupid, it’s like think McGwire and Sosa were clean when they were hitting those home runs before they were caught. If you need a failed drug test to realize a guy was cheating, you are a moron and you should be knitting for a living instead of watching sports for a living,” Malignaggi said.
As you can see, Malignaggi feels it was painfully obvious that the 27-year-old Canelo has been using PEDs, even before he tested positive. That means Malignaggi must have seen something with the way Canelo looked for him to make that determination. Malignaggi say anything about the way Canelo looked after his fight with Golovkin last September. He was talking only his belief that the judges didn’t scored the fight correctly, as he felt that it was a clear win for GGG.