By Jim Dower: Daniel Jacobs didn’t expect Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to be someone that would test positive for a performance enhancing drug, but nonetheless, he says the fighters are finding ways to cheat in the sport.
Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) says he still wants to fight the winner of the Canelo vs. Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin rematch, which is still currently scheduled for May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I think that speaks for itself,” Jacobs told MreckTV about Canelo testing positive for clenbuterol. ”There’s no surprise in boxing nowadays when guys get caught. It’s maybe a surprise because we thought Canelo was innocent. These guys are finding ways and finessing ways to cheat, and it sucks, because I’ve always been a standout guy, where my skills speak for themselves, Jacobs said.
The timing for Canelo’s positive drug test for clenbuterol looks luscious in the eyes of many boxing fans. It comes right before Canelo is about to fight the second time against Golovkin. Canelo had a lot of problems in the first fight with GGG, especially his stamina. Clenbuterol is said to be a potent PED that improves oxygen distribution in one’s body, and increases the metabolic rate, and helps with lung capacity.
It helps a fighter’s stamina. Of all PEDs, clenbuterol would seemingly be the best one that a fighter with poor stamina would want to use to improve that problem. For fighters that live in Mexico that test positive for clenbuterol, they have a read-made excuse by having the ability to blame the positive test on contaminated meat.
It’s an ideal situation, because it puts the boxing Commissions in the position where they either have to accept the contaminated meat excuse or try and track down and verify the story given by the fighter. Given how much work that could be involved in the Commission having to painstakingly deal with each case for clenbuterol that they have to investigate, it’s clear that they need to come up with a better rule in the future to deal with this problem. If fighters that test positive for clenbuterol are going to use the contaminated meat excuse, then the different boxing Commissions might need to automatically suspend any fighter that tests positive for this drug. If the fighter accidentally ate tainted beef, then that’s on them for not having their meat tested. It would make sense for each state Commission to eliminate the meat excuse entirely. So for any fighter testing positive for clenbuterol, they would be suspended regardless of what excuse they give to the Commissions. If they do that, it’s quite possible that we could see a huge drop off of positive tests for clenbuterol in the future. One thing that could make a Commission hesitate to make a rule change like that is it might result in that fighter choosing not to fight in that state any longer. With a popular guy like Canelo, it would hurt Nevada if he chose never to fight in that state again if they suspended him each time he’s popped for clenbuterol.
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler reportedly is saying that he expects the Nevada State Athletic Commission to be interviewing Canelo soon to find out where he purchased the contaminated meat in Mexico. Canelo, 27, and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are saying that his positive test for the performance enhancing drug clenbuterol came from him ingesting contaminated meat. Loeffler believes the Commission will be interviewing Canelo. The Commission will likely ask when and where he believes he purchased the contaminated meat that he ate. The Commission will likely go to wherever Canelo or his team purchased his meat and they’ll want to buy some of the produce to have it tested. If the meat tests negative for clenbuterol, then the Commission will have to decide what to do at that point. Do they give Canelo a free pass or do they suspend him because they failed to find the contaminated meat at the place or places that he or his team purchased it.
”I couldn’t live with myself if I had to cheat, because if I hurt another man and I was on steroids, then maybe one day he couldn’t box again, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” Jacobs said of Canelo testing positive for PEDs.
Jacobs seems to believe that Canelo cheated with his positive clenbuterol test. It’s going to be up to the Nevada Commission to make that decision whether Canelo is guilty or not, but the boxing public appear to have already made their minds up. A lot of the fans feel that Canelo cheated by using clenbuterol before the start of his training camp for GGG, and then not getting off of the drug in time to pass the first two tests by VADA. Canelo has passed all three of his drug tests by VADA in March, but that doesn’t prove that he wasn’t using the drug intentionally in February or perhaps even earlier than that if he was using it in a cycle to ramp up for training camp.
Jacobs has a fight next month on April 28 against unbeaten Maciej Sulecki (26-0, 10 KOs) on HBO Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
”We’re going to find myself in a key position, especially if I win this fight impressively,” Jacobs said of his belief that he’ll get a shot at the winner of the Canelo vs. Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin rematch if he defeats Maciej Sulecki next month on April 28. ”I think it’s going to be a popular demand. Daniel Jacobs will be a key player. Whether we fight Billy Joe Saunders or the winner of Canelo-GGG, I think they need to fight one of us,” Jacobs said.
It doesn’t sound like Canelo is thinking of fighting Jacobs in his next fight after his May 5th rematch. The news is that Canelo plans on fighting contender #5 WBO, #12 WBC Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan in September. Whether Canelo beats Golovkin or not on the 5th of May, he’ll be facing 33-year-old O’Sullivan in September on the Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend. Jacobs, 31, is not in Canelo’s immediate plans for 2018. Golovkin is also not talking of wanting to fight Jacobs. Golovkin is interested in fighting WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders after the rematch with Canelo.
Golovkin hasn’t said whether he’ll still face Saunders for his WBO title should he lose to Canelo, but you have to believe that’s a high possibility. If Golovkin loses to Canelo, there would be no reason for him to fight another contender in the division like Jacobs. That wouldn’t further his boxing career. Golovkin would need a world title in his possession to regain his credibility and to help him negotiate a better purse for the third fight with Canelo in 2019. Saunders would be the guy that Golovkin would be going after. Jacobs should be targeting WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata, because he could soon be ranked No.1 for that title. Jacobs is rated No.2 with the World Boxing Association right now behind #1 WBA Canelo. If Canelo beats Golovkin, then he’ll be the new WBA Super World middleweight champion. That makes Jacobs the No.1 contender to Murata’s title. It would be up to the WBA to decide when they want to order the Murata vs. Jacobs fight.
