By Jeff Aranow: Saul Canelo Alvarez mostly played it cool during on Tuesday at his press conference in cancelling his May 5th rematch with Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin. The fight was likely to be cancelled anyway after Canelo meets with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on April 18 at his hearing for his two failed drug tests.
Canelo is potentially facing a 1-year suspension for his 2 positive tests for the banned substance clenbuterol. During the press conference, Canelo said he surprised by what took place and that he’s a clean fighter.
Canelo said he was “truly shocked by what has happened” and further stated that, “I have always been a clean fighter and I always will be a clean fighter.”
The positive tests for clenbuterol speak for themselves. Canelo saying he’s always been a clean fighter is likely going to be irrelevant, as far as the Nevada Commission is concerned. They seem to be only concerned about two tests in which Canelo did test positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.
Last month, Golovkin had taken some shots at Canelo when speaking to the boxing media, in expressing doubt about the Mexican fighter’s excuse of having consumed contaminated meat that contained the clenbuterol. Canelo hadn’t said anything much in response to that other than a couple of remarks on his social media about how he planned on beating GGG. Surprisingly, Canelo seemed to show a flash of irritation at Golovkin in this response quotes by the Washington Post:
“To be honest what Golovkin or his team say doesn’t bother me at all. No. 1, they’re not doctors, they’re not experts,” Canelo said. “I don’t pay attention to them. It sounds more to me of an excuse for not wanting to fight, that he’s scared, to be honest.”
It probably would have been better off for Canelo, 27, to take the high road and not say anything at all about Golovkin. Canelo should leave the bitterness at home and focus on sending a positive message to the media and the Nevada Commission, who will be deciding his case on April 18. Canelo is sounding angry and bitter, and lashing out at Golovkin for him being upset about the positive tests. Golovkin wanted this fight, and Canelo’s failed drug tests have caused it to be canceled.
There’s no way of knowing whether the Nevada Commission will rule against Canelo on April 18 at their hearing, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to clear him. Golovkin is upset because Canelo tested positive and now the fight isn’t happening. Golovkin’s reaction to Canelo jeopardizing the fight is a normal one. It obviously wasn’t right for Golovkin to voice his thoughts to the media the way did, but his anger was understandable under the circumstances.
It sounds like Canelo believes that Golovkin was trash talking him about his two positive tests for clenbuterol, because he was afraid of him and wanted to get out of their May 5th fight. That appears to be Canelo’s angle here with his above statement. I don’t think Canelo is seeing things the way Golovkin is though. Golovkin was upset because he believes Canelo took the clenbuterol to try and get an unfair edge over him in their May 5th rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Further, Golovkin also believes that Canelo used the substance before their first fight on September 16 last year in Vegas. Golovkin wasn’t happy about Canelo testing positive, which isn’t surprising. Canelo believes that what is behind Golovkin’s trash talking is fear and a desire to get out of the fight. Ultimately, it was Canelo’s decision to pull out of the May 5th rematch with Golovkin.
“Again with Mexican meat? Come on,” Golovkin said last month to the media about Canelo’s excuse of having eaten contaminated meat in Mexico. “I told you, it’s not Mexican meat. This is Canelo. This is his team. This is his promotion. … Canelo is cheating. They’re using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it’s not happening.”
The Nevada Commission is taking Canelo’s two positive tests for clenbuterol very seriously, as they’ve already suspended him temporarily until April 18th, and there’s a possibility that they’re going to suspend him for 1 year and then reduce that number to 6 months.
“It’s very important to clarify that for a boxer — in this case, three months before [the bout], the levels of 0.6 milligrams have no benefit for a fighter,” Dr. Miguel Ángel Nazul, the vice president of the Mexican Federation in Sports Medicine, said during the news conference on Tuesday.
The low levels of clenbuterol in Canelo’s system could be viewed as not being helpful to him this far out from the now canceled May 5th rematch against Golovkin. However, what’s not know is whether Canelo used clenbuterol before he started training camp by using it in a cycle to change his physique before he started the actual training camp. Canelo testing positive for low levels of clenbuterol could indicate that he ate contaminated beef, as he maintains. However, the Commission has to decide whether Canelo’s positive tests were from the contaminated meat or from him coming off a cycle of clenbuterol before he started his training camp. The two positive tests for clenbuterol took place on February 17 and February 20. Those tests were taken at the start of Canelo’s training camp.
“It’s very difficult to be going through this,” said Canelo said during Tuesday’s news conference with Golden Boy Promotions. “I’ve always been a clean fighter. I’ve always been hard working. It’s very frustrating not being able to do more.”
It’s definitely a disappointment for Canelo that the May 5th rematch against Triple g won’t be taking place now, but the fight was likely doomed anyway due to the 2 failed drug tests by the Mexican star. The official reason for Golden Boy Promotions canceling the fight was because there wouldn’t be enough time to promote the fight after Canelo meets with the Commission on April 18. That’s Golden Boy assuming that Canelo will be cleared by the Commission, and that’s not likely to be the case. Canelo is looking at a likely suspension, so the rematch with GGG on May 5th was going to be canceled anyway.
“It’s extremely unlikely that this matter is going to get resolved by then properly,” Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez said about the April 18th hearing for Canelo with the Nevada Commission.
It was going to be very difficult to get the boxing fans excited about the Canelo-GGG 2 rematch on May 5th if they had to wait until April 18th to find out whether the rematch would take place or not. The MGM International has already offered ticket refunds, and HBO took the Canelo-Golovkin 2 fight off their schedule for coming events. A dark cloud was hovering overhead due to Canelo’s two positive tests, and it would have been a mistake to let the fight go ahead even if the Nevada Commission does clear Canelo.
Canelo still wants the fight with Golovkin even with all that’s happened. The rematch will now likely take place in August or September of this year if Canelo is given a 6-month reduced suspension by the Nevada Commission on April 18. It’s important that Canelo take the rematch with Golovkin, because there’s unfinished business from their fight last September, which was ruled a controversial 12 round draw. It also gives Canelo his biggest payday of any fight that can be made for him.
Once Canelo is done facing Golovkin, his career situation isn’t that bright at middleweight. Canelo thrived in the past when he fought at junior middleweight against a lot of welterweights and less than the best guys in the 154 lb. weight class. Canelo fought at catch-weights in the 154, 160 and 168 lb. divisions from 2013 to 2017. That’s a three-year period in which Canelo used catch-weights ranging from 152 to 155 for fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara, James Kirkland, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. That’s seven fights during a four-year period that Canelo used catch-weights rather than fighting in the normal weights for those divisions.
While at 154, Canelo never fought Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo and Jarrett Hurd. When Canelo did fight Lara, he won a controversial 12 round split decision. Once the fight Golovkin is done, Canelo will be faced with some very difficult choices for opponents if he chooses to stay at 160. Canelo will be expected to fight guys like Jermall Charlo, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Daniel Jacobs and Demetrius Andrade. Those are tough fighters that won’t bring a lot to the table in terms of boxing fans. Canelo can’t avoid them, because they’re considered the best fighters in the division aside from Golovkin. Golden Boy could steer Canelo around those fighters for a while, but it’ll look funny if Canelo is only facing guys like Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan, David Lemieux and perhaps Ryota Murata. Those guys are not considered the best fighters in the division. If Canelo moves back down to 154, he would be expected to face Jermell Charlo, Lara and Jarrett Hurd. Those guys are like middleweights, and they’re all very tough fighters. Canelo’s boxing career could go belly up overnight. That’s why it’s best that Canelo face Golovkin as many times as he can, because his career and the money he makes could implode very soon.