By Yannis Mihanos: Only a day ago Saul Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) announced in public his decision to pull out from the May 5th fight against Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) on HBO PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When the news came that he tested positive in forbidden substance clenbuterol all hell broke loose, the whole boxing world turned its attention negatively on him, many media reporters and fans put an extreme amount of pressure in him. As the days and weeks passed that pressure grew larger and larger making him unable to concentrate in the training.
The whole build-up for the second fight against Golovkin went to pieces. After a lot of thought and discussion with his team, Canelo, 27, made this act of good will to retire from the fight. Canelo is one of the most popular stars in boxing and it is unfortunate that he is into that position.
Now as much as Canelo would like to stay in boxing, until the dust settles he must stay quiet and when the time comes, focus again on his craft.
The Nevada athletic Commission can now decide more objectively Canelo’s case on April 18th without having pressure from external sources.
So, has Canelo done the right thing excluding himself from the sport he loves? The sure thing is that stories like these hurt the credibility of the sport and its fighters.
To me it seems unlikely even the scenario of a September Golovkin – Canelo clash, I think the 2018 year is over for Canelo. It isn’t only the preparation it is this accumulation of accusations that must first go away.
No one wants a fight that raises many questions and eyebrows especially when it comes doping.
I also don’t understand the attitude of Golovkin after the incident, constantly accusing Canelo a cheat and still insisting to fight him. The way Golovkin has spoken made me wonder why he wasn’t the first to pull out from the fight.
It’s like when spectators keep watching a TV program that they hate and yet they do it over and over again…