A hard fought battle on September 16th, 2017 between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Àlvarez, two of the world’s biggest boxing stars, had fans yearning for a rematch. With their prayers being answered, the mega-rematch was announced for Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For over two decades, Cinco de Mayo has been an annual boxing holiday tradition, producing billions of dollars for the city of Las Vegas between casinos, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and more. This tradition started with Julio Caesar Chavez Sr., carried on by Oscar De La Hoya, followed by Floyd Mayweather Jr., and now passed on to Canelo Àlvarez. However, will Canelo and the Nevada Athletic Commission (NSAC) break this tradition?
After having provided two samples to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), Canelo Àlvarez tested positive twice for the performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol, which is a banned substance. While the 0.6-0.8 ng/ml of clenbuterol from February 17th and the 0.06-0.08 ng/ml of clenbuterol from February 20th were well within the range expected from meat contamination, the NAC called for Canelo to be suspended for one year, pending a hearing on April 18th 2018. As a result, the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Àlvarez is at risk of being cancelled.
The contamination of meat in Mexico has been a serious issue for many years. Several farmers in Mexico use clenbuterol specifically to help increase the appetite of their cattle. As a result, this would not be the first time in professional sports that clenbuterol has shown up on drug tests for Mexican athletes. The most notable case would be the 2011 under-17 soccer world championship in Mexico, where the vast majority of players tested positive for clenbuterol due to meat consumption. There have also been other reported cases involving the NFL, boxers, cyclist, and more.
Similar instances to the current situation with Canelo Àlvarez, is the Danny Garcia vs. Erik Morales fight in 2012 and the Orlando Salido vs. Francisco Vargas fight in 2016. Both of these fights went on to happen as it was found that, both Erik Morales and Francisco Vargas, accidentally ate tainted meat while in training camp in Mexico. This is precisely what Canelo’s camp is claiming happened as he also trained in Mexico. The big difference is that both of those fights were held in New York and California, respectively. Canelo’s case falls under the jurisdiction of the NSAC, which unfortunately strictly adheres to NSAC regulations. Due to the NSAC’s strict regulations, a suspension would apply despite having accidentally ingested clenbuterol in contaminated meat. However, according to the regulations, the NSAC could very well allow the fight to move forward as planned if they find “one or more mitigating circumstances”, which would be “the use of a product that contains a prohibited substance”, i.e. contaminated meat.
As it is, the fighters continue to train as they are eagerly awaiting the decision from the NSAC. If the NSAC decides to suspend Canelo following their investigation, fans should find comfort in the fact that the NSAC has overruled their own decisions in the past. Basically, anything can happen.
