Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was temporarily banned on Friday after a positive clenbuterol test, calling into question his title rematch with Kazakh Gennady Golovkin scheduled for May 5 in Las Vegas.
According to Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) chief executive Bob Bennett, the middleweight champion returned a positive sample for mark levels of the prohibited substance clenbuterol at the beginning of March.
“Alvarez is temporarily banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission per the executive director for his adverse analytical findings, that being clenbuterol, on February 17 and 20. A commission hearing is scheduled for April 10, 2018 to hear from him or for Alvarez to attend.” Bennett said.
Before this, Golovkin was outspoken about this issue, he claimed he could see traces of injection marks on the Mexican’s arm leading up to their first bout.
“Again with Mexican meat? Come on, 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 jut trying to pretend it’s not happening.” Golovkin said.
“This guy, he knows. This is not his first day in boxing. He gets benefits from everyone and he can get away with it. Check him on a lie detector and then we can find out everything.” Golovkin added.
Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin first fight to controversial split draw. (Source:www.dailystar.co.uk)
Golovkin expects to jump into the ring at the famous “Cinco de Mayo” unless he receives contrary indications from NSAC or Alvarez, who has barely commented on the result of his test since the Golden Boy Promotions claimed in a statement that contamination by meat was common in some parts of Mexico boxers.
Golovkin and Alvarez first fight to spilt draw in last September, at T-Mobile, in Las Vegas. And now they are set for a rematch on May 5 at the same place.
Golden Boys director Stefan Friedman on the other hand, he claimed that the presence of clenbuterol in the samples came from contaminated meat, which has affected dozens of athletes in Mexico in recent years.
However, Friedman said he respects to the NSAC’s procedure and reiterated their stance that Alvarez had not deliberately taken a banned drug.
“We respect the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s procedure and will vigorously present Canelo case throughout.” Friedman said.
“Over his career, Canelo has tested clean more than 90 times and would never deliberately take a banned substance.” he added.
