By Radio Rahim
Former world champion and Sky Sports expert analyst, Johnny Nelson, believes Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) will be in a no-win situation - with his many critics - in the upcoming rematch with WBC, IBF, IBO, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs).
The rematch, which is scheduled for May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, has been under fire in the last few weeks.
Two weeks ago, it was revealed that Canelo had tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol in two separate drug tests that were issued in February.
On Friday, Canelo was temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Canelo must attend a NSAC hearing on April 10 in Las Vegas - where a final ruling will be made on his suspension.
The Mexican star and his handlers have been very firm that his positive tests are directly connected to the consumption of contaminated meat.
Most industry experts are confident the rematch will move forward as planned, since Canelo passed numerous drug tests that were issued in March.
Earlier this week, Golovkin rejected Canelo's claim of eating contaminated meat as the root cause of his positive tests.
The undefeated champion created a storm of headlines, when he openly accused Canelo of being a drug cheat. He made accusations that Canelo had cheated prior to their first fight, which ended in a controversial draw last September, and he believes the boxer has been using performance enhancing drugs for some time. Golovkin claims to possess photos which allegedly show evidence of injection marks on Canelo's body.
Nelson, who bet money on Canelo to win the first bout and he felt he clearly lost, believes Golovkin will win the second fight - with or without PEDs in Canelo's system.
Regardless of the outcome, Nelson believes the critics will attack Canelo with respect to the PED issue that is hovering loud above this rematch.
"If he cheated in the first fight and he didn't win, now he's being watched hard - and if he was on gear or if he's not on gear - now he's being watched hard... how is he going to win? So if he wins, there will be a cloud over him because people will say 'you're a drug cheat, you couldn't win the last time and now you win taking drugs.' And if he loses, they will say 'yeah, that's because he's not taking drugs anymore.' Canelo can't win either way," Nelson explained to BoxingScene.com.
"What I'm saying is, I don't think he wins either way [on or off drugs]. And I'm not knocking Canelo. I'm a fan of his and I expected him to win and I put money on him to win - but he didn't win the first fight, it wasn't a draw, and he won't win again. And regardless of this drugs situation it won't make no difference [in the ouctome], because if he was taking drugs in the first fight - why didn't he win?"
2023-10-20 16:48:00
