Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin: Boxing's Biggest 2018 Fight On Verge Of Being Canceled

There is growing doubt that Canelo Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will have their rematch. The May 5 fight is on the verge of being canceled because of two failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs by boxing’s No.1 draw.

It’s supposed to be the biggest fight of 2018, set to take place less than eight months after the two boxers fought to a draw in an all-out war. Whether or not the bout actually goes on as scheduled will depend on an April 10 meeting between the now-suspended Alvarez and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Alvarez tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20 after random tests were conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. The fighter has claimed he’s the victim of eating contaminated Mexican meats in his home country.

It’s an excuse that not everyone is buying, and that could include the NSAC.

“Based on my reading of the rules and the conversations I have had, I do not think there is any way the commission can allow him to fight on May 5 -- unless Alvarez can provide proof that his food or drink was purposely spiked with the banned substance,” Dan Rafael, ESPN’s senior boxing writer, wrote Tuesday.

You might not think the fight should be in jeopardy by the response from Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions. The fighter has been mostly quiet on the subject since denying that he took PED’s when the news first broke, and a meeting he was supposed to have with reporters earlier this week was canceled.

“As part of the voluntary testing program that Canelo Alvarez insisted on ahead of his May 5 fight, one of his results came back positive for trace levels of Clenbuterol, consistent with meat contamination that has impacted dozens of athletes in Mexico over the last years,” Golden Boy Promotions said in a March 5 statement.

“As Daniel Eichner, Director of SMRTL, the WADA-accredited lab that conducted the tests stated in his letter today, ‘These values are all within the range of what is expected from meat contamination.’

“As has been planned, Canelo will immediately move his training camp from Mexico to the United States and will submit to any number and variety of additional tests that VADA deems necessary ahead of and after May 5.”

Golovkin certainly doesn’t believe Alvarez’s story. The undefeated middleweight champion was already bitter about the judges’ decision in September to call the fight between himself and Alvarez a draw when it appeared clear that Golovkin should’ve been named the winner.

Now, another obstacle stands in the way of Golovkin getting a victory over the sport’s most popular star.

“Again with Mexican meat? Come on," Golovkin told reporters in California last week. “I told you, it's not Mexican meat. This is Canelo. This is his team. This is his promotion. Canelo is cheating. They're using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it's not happening.

“This guy, he knows. This is not his first day in boxing. He proves he gets benefits from everyone and he can get away with it. Check him on a lie detector and then we can find out everything.”

No matter what he thinks of Alvarez, Golovkin would likely welcome the rematch to go on as planned. He made a guaranteed $3 million when the two fought in September in the biggest fight of his career. The bout sold 1.3 million pay-per-view buys—only the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor sold more PPVs in 2017—and a rematch could be even more lucrative.

Golovkin can still fight on May 5 if Alvarez’s suspension isn’t lifted. A fight against Billy Joe Saunders, who holds the one middleweight belt that GGG still seeks, could be made. A rematch with Daniel Jacobs, who arguably gave Golovkin the toughest test of his career, is also possible.

None of those fights, however, have the cache of Golovkin-Alvarez 2, and there could soon be a vacancy for the most-anticipated fight of the year.