By Jim Dower: The Ring has decided not to strip Saul Canelo Alvarez of his middleweight title with their organization despite him being suspended for 6 months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive twice for the banned substance clenbuterol.
Doug Fisher of The Ring says that Canelo hasn’t been removed from their ratings and it’s not going to happen. The reason Canelo is being allowed to keep his Ring 160 lb. title is because the levels of clenbuterol in his system during his 2 positive tests on February 17 and February 20 are consistent with his excuse of having eaten tainted beef that contained the substance in Mexico.
Canelo also supplied the Nevada Commission with receipts of where he purchased the contaminated, clenbuterol-containing beef from a restaurant in Mexico. The negative results of the hair follicle test for Canelo also showed that he didn’t have clenbuterol in his system.
The hair follicle test supposedly would show whether a person used clenbuterol for a long period of time. However, the science still isn’t there for the test to be used as part of the testing by the anti-drug testing agencies as of yet. Since clenbuterol is a problem in Mexico with cattle producers using the substance to lean out their cattle, it’s plausible that Canelo tested positive from eating contaminated beef.
Further, if Canelo had fought in California or Texas, where those states excuse fighters that have eaten contaminated beef, then he likely wouldn’t have received a suspension and would have been allowed to fight Gennady Golovkin on May 5. The Nevada State Commission doesn’t differentiate in how a banned drug or substance gets into the body of a fighter. All they care about is whether the fighter tests positive or not. They say the fighter is responsible for what enters into their body.
Canelo remains The Ring champion and the top contenders below him are as follows:
1. Gennady Golovkin
2. Daniel Jacobs
3. Billy Joe Saunders
4. Sergiy Derevyanchenko
5. Jermall Charlo
6. Ryota Murata
7. Demetrius Andrade
8. David Lemieux
9. Hassan N’Dam
10. Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan
It looks bad in the eyes of a lot of people Canelo being allowed to keep his Ring middleweight title after testing positive twice for clenbuterol. If we go by the Nevada Commission’s rules that make the fighter responsible for what enters their body, then it doesn’t make sense for Canelo to be permitted to keep his Ring title.
From the outside looking in, The Ring keeping Canelo their champion at 160 after his positive tests for clenbuterol, it looks bad in my view. Canelo is a good fighter, but his positive tests for clenbuterol has led to him taking a big hit in his popularity with the boxing fans. For ‘The Ring’ to keep Canelo as their middleweight champion, it’s a controversial move, especially when the guy that is ranked below him, Golovkin, appeared to beat him in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans last September. The results of the Canelo-GGG fight last years were very questionable, and many fans still think Golovkin was outright robbed by the judges in Las Vegas.