By Jeff Aranow: Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin is very upset about Saul Canelo Alvarez’s positive drug test for clenbuterol, and he says he should have known better, according to RingTV. Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are blaming the positive test on meat that contained clenbuterol.
Golovkin says Canelo should be penalized for his positive test, and he wants to make sure he’s tested frequently to ensure that he’s clean for their May 5th rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Golovkin says he still wants to fight Canelo despite his positive test, but only if he’s clean.
The news of Canelo testing positive for clenbuterol has shaken up the boxing world, as the 27-year-old Mexican star had always had a squeaky-clean reputation before this. Of all the fighters, Canelo was one that was least expected. Of course, some boxing fans have been suspicious of Canelo since his sudden transformation of his physique before his fight with GGG last September. Canelo had never been really cut up before and highly muscled, but for the GGG fight, he looked like a bodybuilder. It was a quick transformation for Canelo that had some fans wondering if he was using performance enhancing drugs for that fight.
“There are obligations he and his team need to follow, there should be some penalties. It’s his obligation now to prove that he’s a clean athlete,””It wasn’t pleasant to learn of this…They should have known.”
You can believe the Nevada State Athletic Commission will be taking steps to make sure VADA tests Canelo frequently in the 2 months that are remaining before he faces GGG on May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s too bad for Canelo that this happened. If Canelo wins the fight, he’s not going to going to be seen as a true winner by a lot of boxing fans. They’re going to think he did it with the help of clenbuterol or some other drug that’s not detected. If the fans see Canelo as a cheat, they’re going to assume that he won because of the drugs. If Canelo loses, they’ll think he wasn’t the same fighter without the drugs.
It’s too bad Canelo tested positive in the first place, because his career and accomplishments are going to be viewed with suspicion. Canelo is going to have to live with that. He made the mistake of eating tainted meat. Someone dropped the ball in his team. For a fighter that makes 8 figures each time he fights, you would think that Canelo would have a system in place to ensure that he’s eating untainted meat.
Golovkin still wants to fight Canelo. It’s important for Golovkin that he proves to the boxing world that he’s the better fighter. He thought he deserved the win the last time he fought canelo on September 15th, but the judges scored the fight a 12 round draw. The fight was viewed as a robbery by many fans. What’s sad is now a lot of people are thinking that Golovkin will be at a disadvantage due to the judges being against him, and he’ll have to deal with Canelo loaded to the gills with PEDs, looking like a pumped-up bodybuilder once again.
It’s a bad position for Canelo to be in. If his physique is thinner, less ripped for the rematch with GGG, boxing fans are likely going to say, ‘Ah huh, Canelo couldn’t use his PEDs, so he’s reverted back to looking soft and small.’ Canelo is going to have to shut the negative feedback out, because he’s going to be receiving it regardless. Perhaps years from the fans will finally forget about Canelo’s positive drug test, but only if he doesn’t continue to get popped for PEDs.
”If it’s positive that it’s a performance-enhancing drug for him, that’s just outrageous,” Golovkin said.
It’s bad for Golovkin because he must fight someone that he won’t know for sure if he’s using PEDs or not. Golovkin will need to have faith that VADA will test Canelo enough to make sure he’s not dirty with drugs during training camp and for the fight.
Golovkin dropping out of the fight would be understandable, although I don’t think he’ll do it. Giving Canelo an unfair advantage will make Golovkin’s job doubly hard. He’s already had to wait 2 years to get the first fight with Canelo. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya said that Canelo had to grow into the middleweight division before he could move up in weight. That excuse wasn’t believable considering how big Canelo looked when he was fighting at his special 155 lb. catch-weight that he mostly fought at for a 3-year period from 2013 to 2016.
Canelo’s weight wasn’t revealed by HBO during the night of his fights, but he looked like he was easily 175. Golovkin rehydrates to 171-173 for his fights. Canelo had been big enough to fight Golovkin for years. After Golovkin finally got a fight against Canelo in their oddly scored fight last September, he was told that he’d have to wait 8 months before he could get a rematch. That move looked to a lot of boxing fans as a way for Golden Boy and Canelo to age Golovkin a little more, so they could get an edge against him.
Whatever the Nevada State Athletic Commission decides to do with Canelo after they complete their investigation for his positive drug test for clenbuterol, they need to come up with a concrete plan to deal with future positive tests for this drug. It’s no use in the Commission to have a rule forbidding the use of clenbuterol if fighters can circumvent the rule by saying they ate tainted meat in Mexico. That excuse has got to be taken away from fighters, so they can’t potentially get away with using the drug and then telling the Commission that they tested only because they ate tainted meat.
Fighters being allowed to blame their positive tests for clenbuterol on tainted meat makes a mockery of the rule forbidding it’s use, because it allows them to escape punishment. If you’re a fighter that must compete against a guy that uses clenbuterol during training camp, you’re not going to be so happy about it, especially if they don’t get penalized.