By Miguel Rivera
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman believes it is now time to turn the page on the drug testing controversy involving Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
On Wednesday, Canelo was suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission - because he tested positive for clenbuterol, twice, in drug tests taken back in February.
The troubles with the commission forced Canelo to withdraw from the May 5th rematch with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin will now return to the ring against Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Canelo plans to return in September, and many believe the fight being targeted is a rematch with Golovkin - provided that everything goes well with GGG in the coming weeks.
Sulaiman believes the time is now for Canelo to step away from the drug testing mess and move forward with his career.
The WBC leader is fully on board with Canelo's claim that his positive results were directly connected to ingesting contaminated meat in Mexico.
"It was established that [Canelo's clenbuterol use] was not done with malice... it is definitely a point that clarifies what we have been fighting about, because the problem of clenbuterol is well known and there is a lot of information in Mexico," said Sulaiman to ESPN Deportes.
"This is a way for Canelo to clean up his image, now he has to take advantage of this to defend his cleanliness despite the damage done, he must continue to produce negative test results and demonstrate that he is a clean fighter.
"The [NSAC] have their regulations, I feel it is time to turn the page and shore up the positive, nothing is going to correct itself by looking back. And now [the suspension] opens up the possibility of the important fight in September and that has to be rescued. This experience is done and now we must refocus our attention because the uncertainty is over, because there is a fight on May 5 and a suspension was given."
2023-10-20 21:00:00
