Canelo Alvarez to host a media briefing today

Boxingnews24.com

By Jeff Aranow

Saul Canelo Alvarez will reportedly be hosting a media briefing on his status today, according to Lance Pugmire. It’s unclear whether Canelo, 26, will field questions or read a prepared statement. Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) has a meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on April 18 to discuss his 2 positive tests for clenbuterol.

What Canelo has going for him is the levels of the clenbuterol in his two positive tests could indicate food contamination. If Canelo can convince the Nevada Commission that he ate contaminated meat containing the banned substance, then maybe they’ll let him off with just a warning.

Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions and Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler at K2 Promotions are still hoping the May 5th fight can take place.

“Anyone who has a plane ticket or plans to come to Las Vegas for Cinco de Mayo to see GGG fight, do not cancel your ticket because we plan a fight against Canelo or against any other,” Loeffler said to ESPN.com.

Canelo is trying to get cleared so he can face middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) in a rematch on May 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Nevada Commission could suspend Canelo for 1 year for his 2 positive tests for clenbuterol. The 1-year suspension could be reduced to a 6 months if Canelo “admits guilt,” according to ESPN Deportes. Would Canelo admit guilt to get his suspension reduced to 6 months?

If Canelo’s excuse of having eaten contaminated meat is valid, then he’ll obviously admit guilt. At the same time, if Canelo did admit guilt, it would look bad in the eyes of a lot of his boxing fans. If the only way for Canelo to get a potential 1-year suspension dropped to 6 months is for him to cooperate with the Commission and admit guilt, I think it’s unlikely he’ll do that. In that case, Canelo might not be fighting until May 2019 unless he’s got a great defense for his two positive tests.

According to an ESPN Deportes source, Canelo will be looking to prove that his two positive tests for clenbuterol came from contaminated meat. It’s unclear whether Canelo will have the information needed for him to be cleared by the Nevada Commission.

Some fighters in the past were able to be cleared by proving they had eaten contaminated meat, but unfortunately for Canelo, it appears the Nevada Commission is unlikely to accept that excuse. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says Canelo can’t be found guilty of having use clenbuterol, because he says his positive tests are from food contamination. Sulaiman says the only thing Canelo is guilty of is negligence, carelessness and ignorance in terms of his nutrition regimen.

If Canelo is given a 1-year suspension, he won’t be able to fight in the United States. It’s unclear whether Canelo would elect to stay busy with his career by fighting in his home country of Mexico. Would HBO still televise Canelo’s fights if he were on suspension in the U.S and fighting in Mexico? There’s also the question of whether Golovkin would be willing to travel to Mexico to fight Canelo over there? He would obviously want to make sure Canelo is tested up until the fight.

Golovkin, 35, and his promoter Tom Loeffler are already thinking of replacing Canelo for the May 5th fight. Middleweight contender Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan is said to be the leading candidate to get the fight. That would be a voluntary defense for GGG, and likely a very easy fight for him. WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders doesn’t think too much of Golovkin taking a soft defense. He feels that Golovkin might not fight him until 2019, and he wants to face him a lot sooner.

Unfortunately, Saunders is already scheduled to defend his WBO title against Martin Murray on June 23 in the UK.

”GGG Boxing looking for an easy night’s work May 5th, waiting for the drug cheat for September. You say all the belts. I say you talk s—t,” Saunders said on his Twitter.

It’s too bad Saunders is scheduled already to face Murray, because he would be a great option for Golovkin to fight on May 5. Saunders has an injured hand that isn’t 100 percent yet. The injury might not be completely healed by May 5th, so he’s not an option for Golovkin to fight on that date.

Saunders probably won’t get a chance to fight Golovkin until 2019, and even that, it will only happen if GGG is still a world champion. If Golovkin loses his May 5th fight or his fight in September, then there’s likely very little chance that Saunders will be in the picture. It’ll look strange for a beaten Golovkin to turn his fights to Saunders, because that would give the boxing world an image of the Kazakhstan fighter going in the path of least resistance rather than looking to avenge his loss.

Golovkin and his management will have a good excuse for taking on a soft opponent like O’Sullivan rather than one of the good fighters in the middleweight division, because they won’t find out whether Canelo can still fight on May 5th until his hearing with the Nevada Commission on April 18th, and that’s only 3 weeks before the fight. Golovkin isn’t going to be able to prepare adequately for his replacement opponent with just 3 weeks’ notice.

GGG has been training camp, and he’ll be in excellent shape for the May 5th date, but he won’t enough time to train for the fighting style of his opponent. O’Sullivan is an easier style for Golovkin to train for because he’s a basic fighter, who likes to come forward and throw huge shots. Golovkin can deal with that style easily without problem. O’Sullivan does pack a wallop, so Golovkin will need to have his defense on point to keep from getting hit by one of the Irish fighter’s huge power shots. As of now, Golovkin still intends on fighting on HBO PPV on May 5th, even if his opponent isn’t Canelo. The question is will the boxing public be willing to pay to see Golovkin fight O’Sullivan on HBO PPV?

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