Gennady Golovkin's Backup Plan Is Billy Joe Saunders If Canelo Cannot Fight

Gennady Golovkin has a backup plan in case his highly-anticipated rematch with Canelo Alvarez does not go through.

Golovkin is expected to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight titles against the Mexican in Las Vegas on May 5.

However, the contest has a chance of being called off after Canelo recently tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance commonly used by athletes as a fat-burner to help them cut weight.

The Canelo camp is adamant that the failed drug test is simply a result of contaminated meat from Mexico which has been a common occurrence in the past for boxers. While the fight is more than likely to happen still, if Canelo is proven guilty by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) that his consumption of the substance was intentional, he will be handed a ban.

Golovkin, who was upset and disappointed with the initial news, still hopes the fight will commence but plans on taking on World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders as an alternative in an effort to unify the last remaining belt in the division.

"If that fight can't happen the next step for me is Saunders, since it is my dream to get all the world championship belts," Golovkin said, as per the Daily Mail. "I still hope the fight happens. It is the biggest fight in boxing right now and I would like to be on that level once again."

"But it is for the commission to decide if he was positive or negative. I was surprised this happened. Knowing Canelo and his team I didn't expect they were using some kind of forbidden substances. It is unpleasant to see this go in that direction. I want competition between athletes, not laboratories. A clean fight not a medicine fight," he said.

The first fight between the two middleweights ended in controversial fashion as many in the boxing world felt "GGG" had done enough to come away with a win on points, only for the contest to end in a split-decision draw. Golovkin believes the second fight will be even better and truly determine who the superior fighter is.

"The second fight will be much more interesting and entertaining," he added. "Although I believe I won the first, I have worked on some improvements. So if this second fight happens the whole world will know who is the one real winner."

Meanwhile, Irish middleweight Gary O'Sullivan recently claimed he will be fighting Canelo no matter what his result is against Golovkin in May.

“The fight I'm looking at is Canelo after May 4th so I hope that Canelo obviously beats Golovkin," O'Sullivan said. "I’m going to fight him regardless but it’s much better for me if he wins. I’m looking forward to it you know, I’m very excited for that fight. I believe I'm possibly the hardest puncher in the whole division. If Canelo beats Golovkin, I’d love the opportunity to knock him out and prove I can mix it with the best in this division."