Canelo Alvarez’s hair follicle test is negative for clenbuterol

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones

Saul Canelo Alvarez has tested negative for the performance enhancing substance clenbuterol in a hair follicle test that was ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as part of their investigation of the Mexican star for his two positive tests on February 17 and February 20.

Unfortunately, the negative hair follicle tests still weren’t able to clear the 27-year-old Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs), because he still tested positive last February in two of the urine tests conducted by VADA. Moreover, if Canelo continues to test positive for clenbuterol in the future, and continues to blame it on meat contamination like he did for his past positive tests, then he’ll still likely be suspended by the Commission. The hair test seems to be just something that was done but without any real bearing on the outcome of Canelo’s meeting with the Nevada Commission on April 18.

Canelo is said to be willing to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. That should be interesting if Canelo does wind up taking the lie detector test. If Canelo does take a lie detector test, it would be better if the boxing media can be inside the ring with cameras rolling rather than having the test conducted behind closed doors. What would be bad is if the idea of a lie detector test is talked about in a name dropping way to sway opinion but without the real intention of any test ever being taken. That would be bad if this is just talk to make Canelo look good in the eyes of the boxing fans, but then no lie detector test is ever conducted.

It’s believed by some that hair follicle testing is the best method to determine whether a person is using clenbuterol for doping or for if they tested positive by eating contaminated beef. If a person is using clenbuterol for doing over a prolonged period of time, then the substance will remain in that person’s hair for a long period of time than if they accidently tested positive by eating meat.

The Nevada Commission took some of Canelo’s hair last March and had it tested at the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. The results of the best were as follows according to ESPN.com: “Hair sample tested for clenbuterol. Clenbuterol was not detected.”

Needless to say, Golden Boy Promotions honcho Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy president Eric Gomez both see this as proof that Canelo wasn’t using clenbuterol for doping purposes to try and gain an advantage over middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin while preparing for their now canceled May 5 rematch. De la Hoya and Gomez both see this as vindication to prove once and for all that Canelo only tested positive for clenbuterol due to him having eaten contaminated beef while in Mexico. However, it’s still unlikely that the negative hair follicle tests are going to sway the boxing public into believing that Canelo didn’t use clenbuterol intentionally. The reason why the boxing public likely won’t care about the hair follicle test is for these reasons:

• The rapid change in Canelo’s physique – Many boxing fans noted how Canelo’s body looked much different for the Golovkin fight than it did in any of his past fights in his 12-year pro career at the time of the Canelo-Golovkin fight last September. If a person is going to change their physique dramatically and become more vascular and look more like a bodybuilder, you would think they would have done it long before they’ve reached the 12th year of their career. Canelo looked muscular like a bodybuilder for the GGG fight. Four months before, Canelo’s physique looked different for his fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last year in May. Canelo looked like he always did in the past. He was stocky but he had some fat over his muscles. It wasn’t like the bodybuilder physique that Canelo was sporting for the Golovkin fight. Canelo looked like he had someone Photoshop his head onto the physique of another person. The change to Canelo’s physique appeared to have taken place weeks and perhaps even more than a month before the fight with GGG, which means the rapid change in his body was even faster than what some boxing fans originally thought. Rapid changes to a person’s body are oftentimes a red flag that they’re using PEDs.

• The fans already have formed their opinion about Canelo’s guilt based on his 2 positive tests conducted by VADA. Those were both urine tests, and that’s good enough for the fans to believe that he was guilty. The results of a new test ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission will likely be either ignored by the fans or seen with suspicion. The fans have already made up their mind that Canelo is guilty of having used clenbuterol from his urine tests. A hair follicle test, which has never been used before by the Nevada Commission to prove guilt, isn’t likely going to change the minds of too many fans. It’s very unlikely the Nevada Commission will add hair follicle testing in the future to test for PEDs. It’s very likely that the Commission will continue to rely on the results of the inexpensive urinalysis testing to determine whether a fighter has been using PEDs. For that reason, it’s neither here nor there that Canelo tested negative for his hair follicle test. The important thing is Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol on two of the urine tests.

”They found traces of clenbuterol in his system and if he was using it (to dope) there would probably still be enough in his system that it would show up in his hair,” De La Hoya said to ESPN.com. “We did the hair test to prove this was accidental. Canelo is telling the truth about the meat contamination and he went far and beyond what he had to do by agreeing to have this hair test done so he can keep on proving that he is an innocent fighter,” De La Hoya said.

It’s doubtful that the boxing public’s perception about Canelo is going to change much with the hair follicle test. It’s too late, and like I said, a lot of people are basing Canelo’s guilt in how his body changed dramatically in a short period of time. A lot of fans are going to simply look at the original 2 tests that Canelo turned up positive for clenbuterol and say those are proof enough that he was doping.

Instead of Golden Boy wasting time trying to change the opinion of the public about Canelo’s guilt in terms of the PEDs, they should be looking to sign him up for drug testing with VADA so they can show the fans that he’s a clean fighter. Thus far, there’s no word about Canelo being tested since he pulled out of his May 5 fight with Golovkin. Without testing being done on Canelo, a lot of the boxing fans are going to suspect that he’s cycling with clenbuterol to get an early head start for his rematch with Golovkin on September 15.

Canelo will soon be getting drug tested randomly, says ESPN from what they were told by Golden Boy. If they’re serious about Canelo being tested randomly, then they’re going to need to start the test almost immediately, because training camp will start in 3 months for the Mexican star. The general belief is that drug cheats use PEDs in a cycle BEFORE they start training camp, because the drug testing stars during the camp and it lasts for the full 8 weeks up until the fight and immediately after. So, if Canelo is going to prove to the boxing public that he’s not cycling with clenbuterol or whatever right now to get ready for his next training camp, then he should be getting tested right now. As of now, it’s been 8 days since Canelo had his hearing with the Nevada Commission on April 18. The Commission should have ordered testing at the time of the meeting so that Canelo is getting drug tested during his 6-month suspension, which expires on August 17. Being suspended for clenbuterol and not being tested, it sounds wacky.

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