The most talked about decision in boxing doesn’t have to do with the outcome of a fight, but the decision on whether or not to allow the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin rematch to take place on Cinco de Mayo.
The Canelo vs. GGG rematch is up in the air over Canelo’s positive pre-fight drug tests for the banned substance Clenbuterol, a steroid-like drug that helps an athlete or bodybuilder burn fat quickly while maintaining muscle.
The Canelo camp claims the positive tests were due to tainted Mexican meat, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission has temporarily suspended Canelo and filed a complaint against the Mexican boxer, he must face the NSAC on April 18 to plead his case in hopes of avoiding a one year ban from the sport of boxing over testing positive for PEDs.
Former opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. chimed in on the matter when he told Fighthype.com that he believes the fight should happen as long as they continue to do random blood and urine testing leading up to the May 5th clash.
Mayweather’s stance of allowing Canelo to fight GGG after failing drug tests is a surprising one, he was the first boxer to demand and implement Olympic style drug testing. It was a controversial topic revolving around the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather super fight.
Mayweather suspected Pacquiao of being on something, and he believed Pacquiao’s refusal to adhere to the random blood testing was a red flag. The two Pay-Per-View stars would go back and forth for several years in and out of court, until finally facing off in 2015 with both using USADA testing before the fight.
One would think Mayweather would agree with punishing Canelo instead of giving him a pass on two positive tests, given his strict drug testing demands and call to clean up the sport of boxing from drug cheats.
UFC President and future boxing promoter, Dana White, also agrees that the fight should move forward but for financial reasons.
“Yeah, I think it will. There’s too much money involved,” White told TMZ.
White and Mayweather were part of the promotion for the Boxing vs. MMA crossover event that pit UFC’s superstar Conor McGregor against Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring, the fight was a financial success doing well over 4 million PPV buys.
The boxing world is patiently waiting on the NSAC’s decision to either let the Canelo vs. Golovkin rematch take place or to nix the event and hand down a suspension to Canelo for failing drug tests.
