Canelo vs. Golovkin 2: Should the fight be canceled?

By Boxing News - 03/22/2018 - Comments

Image: Canelo vs. Golovkin 2: Should the fight be canceled?

By Jim Dower: Gennady Golovkin and Saul Canelo Alvarez are still set to face each other on May 5th, but with the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s investigation steaming ahead, there’s a small chance that the fight could be canceled.

The Commission is investigating Canelo for his positive test for clenbuterol, a potent performance enhancing drug. Golovkin says he still wants the fight with Canelo to take place on May 5th, but only if the Commission green lights the fight to take place, Golovkin will follow whatever ruling the Commission makes. If they cancel it, then he’s fine with that. The Commission’s ruling will determine everything.

If there’s bad blood between Canelo and Golovkin over the clenbuterol test, we might not see a second fight between them if their May 5th fight is canceled by the Nevada Commission. That would be a shame. The boxing public would have to live with the results of the first controversial fight between Canelo and Golovkin last September. The fighters would go their separate ways. Golovkin would likely face WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders next, whereas Canelo would take on Gary O’Sullivan.

It is possible the Commission could cancel the Canelo-GGG 2 fight. There is a lot of attention being put on this fight all over the world, and if Canelo’s excuse of meat contamination is determined to be false, then the Commission could potentially cancel the fight. Canelo has obviously informed the Commission where he believes he consumed the contaminated meat.

The Commission can’t sweep this under the rug without taking heavy criticism from the boxing public. Hopefully, the Nevada Commission reveals where the tainted beef was purchased from if they clear Canelo. Keeping the case secret would look bad.

If the Canelo-GGG 2 fight is canceled by the Nevada Commission, then the two fighters can still face each other in September. That’s when Canelo plans on fighting next after his May 5th date. However, Golden Boy Promotions are reportedly interested in matching Canelo against Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan in September.

With the anger between Canelo and Golovkin now, it’s possible that the two won’t face each other again after May 5th. It might be a good thing for both. Too much has happened since their first controversial fight. There was the odd scoring of the fight by two of the judges, and then the insistence on Canelo of going back to Las Vegas at the same venue for the rematch with GGG. Canelo’s positive tests for clenbuterol last February have worsened the problem. Those positive tests have made Golovkin suspicious that Canelo was possibly using the drug for the first fight but wasn’t caught by VADA.

Golovkin might not want to fight Canelo a second time if their May 5th match is canceled by the Nevada Commission. If Canelo is suspended by the Nevada Commission, it’s not likely to be a long suspension. At worst, it might be a six month suspension. Where Canelo would go after that is anyone’s guess other than a fight with O’Sullivan. If Canelo wants to be seen as one of the best fighters in the middleweight division, he’ll be expected to fight the top guys. That means he would need to fight Daniel Jacobs, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Jermall Charlo. Fighting anyone else other than those fighters would make Canelo appear that he’s ducking the best. Golovkin has already said he wants to move up to super middleweight after he unifies the 160 lb. weight class.

What’s unfortunate for Canelo is the stigma of his positive drug tests will likely follow him the remainder of his boxing career. He’ll be viewed as dishonest by a lot of fans, as they’ll suspect that he’s using drugs each time he fights. Canelo’s wins will be dismissed by fans as him being aided by drugs. When Canelo loses, some of the fans will think he wasn’t using is PEDs. If there wasn’t so much attention on Canelo’s fight with GGG, there would be less made out of his positive test for clenbuterol.

Fans would still talk about the positive drug test, but not as much as they are now due to Canelo fighting the highly popular Golovkin. With the controversy surrounding the first Canelo-GGG fight in terms of the judging, news of Canelo’s positive drug test has been spread all around the world. Everyone knows about it now. It looks really bad for Canelo. That’s why it’s important that the Commission wraps up their investigation soon, because the longer it drags out, the worse it makes Canelo look.

It might actually be better if the Canelo-GGG fight is canceled. Think about it. If the two fighters go their separate ways, they can put black cloud that surrounds their fight behind them. Canelo can enlist for year round VADA testing to show the boxing public that he’s a clean fighter. Golovkin go move and feel confident then when he does face Canelo in the future, he’ll be facing a clean fighter. Golovkin doesn’t have that confidence right now in light of Canelo’s two positive tests for clenbuterol.