Canelo Alvarez now testing NEGATIVE for clenbuterol

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones

Saul Canelo Alvarez is no longer testing positive for the performance enhancing (PEDs) clenbuterol, according to RingTV. That’s the good news. Canelo’s last test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping (VADA) agency on March 2 showed negative for clenbuterol.

It’s not all that surprising that Canelo is now testing negative for the drug, as clenbuterol half-life of 28 o 36 hours before it’s metabolized, according to steroidfy.com. Clenbuterol doesn’t stay in a person’s body for long once they stop using it. As long as Canelo is testing negative for clenbuterol, his rematch with Gennady Golovkin will likely go ahead for May 5th.

If Canelo was intentionally using clenbuterol, then it would be a mistake on his part to take the risk of continuing to use it given the spotlight now being put on him in the boxing world. VADA will be testing Canelo frequently from now on to make sure he doesn’t have the drug in his body.

Canelo, 27, tested positive for clenbuterol for low levels of the drug on two of his VADA conducted tests on February 17 and February 20. Canelo says the positive test was because of contaminated meat he’d eaten in Mexico.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission are currently investigating Canelo’s positive test, and they should be making public the results soon. Canelo is challenging IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) in a rematch on May 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their previous fight on September 16 was a controversial 12 round draw.

Team Golovkin, and many boxing fans saw it as a win for the Kazakhstan fighter, but the Nevada Commission assigned judges scored it a draw. Canelo came out of the fight looking like the loser that was given preferential treatment because of his star appeal rather than what he did during the fight. The positive drug test for Canelo makes him look even worse in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans. Now he’s seen as a cheater.

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“I am an athlete who respects the sport and this surprises me and bothers me because it had never happened to me,” Alvarez said in a statement. “I will submit to all the tests that require me to clarify this embarrassing situation and I trust that at the end the truth will prevail.”

The truth, as Canelo says, might not ever come out. It’s silly for Canelo to state that the truth will prevail, because he can’t prove that he ate tainted meat that contained clenbuterol. Without the meat being still in Canelo’s household for testing, it comes down to the Nevada State Athletic Commission having to take his word for it. Since the Commission doesn’t have a strict rule that suspends fighters for testing positive for clenbuterol regardless of what excuses they’re making, then Canelo – or any fighter – can blame their positive tests for the drug on eating tainted meat. It’s kind of a joke really. If any fighter testing positive for clenbuterol can get off the hook with the Nevada Commission by blaming it on them eating tainted meat, then there are no repercussions. They load up on the drug if they’re cheaters and then use the contaminated meat excuse to escape punishment if they’re caught.

Clenbuterol helps athletes burn fat, and it increases the cardio ability. That would be an important thing for a fighter that struggles with their stamina during fights. We saw Canelo struggling BADLY with his stamina last September against Golovkin. Canelo was limited to fighting hard for the first minute of each round. He would gas out exactly at the one minute mark of each round, and he would then use the last 2 minutes of each round running to his left and resting on the ropes. Canelo looked like a bodybuilder with poor stamina. It was hard to believe that Canelo was the younger fighter than the 35-year-old Golovkin, as they looked like their ages were reversed. Golovkin was the younger guy and Canelo was the 35-year-old fighter laboring against a younger lion.

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A number of Mexican fighters have tested positive for Clenbuterol in the past. Erik Morales, Luis Nery and Francisco Vargas both tested positive for the drug.

Golovkin is still interested in facing Canelo in the rematch on May 5th, as long as he’s testing negative for the drug. Golovkin wants the Nevada Commission to finish their investigation and take whatever steps they need to for them to ensure that Canelo doesn’t continue to test positive for clenbuterol during training camp. Golovkin says he wants the sport to be clean, and he’s disappointed with Canelo’s positive test for the PED. Golovkin already has his mind made up that he’s going to knock Canelo out on May 5th so that the judges don’t take away another one of his victories over the red-headed star like they did last time he fought him.

What makes Canelo’s contaminated meat excuse hard for many boxing fans to believe is the fact that he’s a millionaire, and he likely knows full well the risk involved in eating untested meat in Mexico. Canelo’s trainer Chepo Reynoso is an ex-butcher, so he should know the risks involved in eating meat in Mexico. For Canelo to claim innocence and use the excuse that he ate tainted meat, it’s hard for a lot of boxing fans to believe. Canelo should know better at this point in his long 13-year pro career. Canelo will be allowed to still fight Golovkin, but it’s a black eye for him that he tested positive in the first place for clenbuterol. Canelo is still the Ring Magazine middleweight champion despite twice testing positive for clenbuterol and not having successfully won a fight at middleweight since May 2016.