In his most forceful comments of innocence yet, former trainer of the year Eddy Reynoso responded to his reported link with Mexico’s new WBC interim flyweight champion Francisco “Chihaus” Rodriguez Thursday.
Explaining that he only recently met Rodriguez in person, Reynoso said his “No Boxing, No Life” brand has sponsored the fighter through multiple fights.
“In the way we supported Francisco, we have supported many fighters, and we will continue to do so until God allows us to,” Reynoso said in a prepared statement posted on his social-media accounts.
“Regarding the positive test result in his recent fight [a June 21 unanimous-decision victory over Galal Yafai], it will be Francisco who will have to make the pertinent clarifications regarding the same.”
The wait for Reynoso to distribute such strong denials of involvement has left him subjected to both innuendo and deep criticism, particularly from Oscar De La Hoya, the former promoter of Reynoso’s star fighter, undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, and another fighter with past ties to Reynoso who later tested positive for PEDs, Ryan Garcia.
The truth is Reynoso has actively trained four fighters who popped dirty while with him: Alvarez, former two-division Oscar Valdez, former flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez and, most recently, former 154lbs champion Jaime Munguia in his May rematch fight with Bruno Surace after getting knocked out by Surace in December.
Reynoso’s explanations have been absent or lacking in those cases, a grave mistake in the eyes of crisis communications experts and agents in major sports who take a more proactive approach to such matters.
Getting ahead of the controversy, explaining your side of the story, is the ideal response to these situations, rather than letting others seize upon your silence to speculate on what happened.
Through the years of covering Alvarez, I’ve been invited in to witness the purity of Reynoso’s work, how he absorbed the methods of his successful trainer father, Chepo Reynoso, how he poured over boxing-training books to find the most effective methods for his respective fighters and how he constructed a deep loyalty with Alvarez – the most popular and accomplished boxer of the past decade.
There’s a valued career of a self-made man here, one that requires the type of self-defense detailed in Thursday’s statement to shield it from being stigmatized.
During the late-June Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr fight card in Anaheim, California, I briefly spoke to Reynoso about the focus on him over this cloud of positive tests, and he promised to elaborate when the time was right in his eyes.
An individual close to Reynoso that night previewed the trainer’s more formal response Thursday by saying Reynoso’s work is centered on the fundamentals of boxing inside the gym – without dietary or supplement advice.
Alvarez saw his 2018 rematch with Gennady Golovkin delayed following his suspension for clenbuterol, explaining the limited amount came from eating tainted beef in Mexico.
Valdez was positive in 2021 for a central-nervous stimulant. Martinez was suspended for nine months in Nevada in June 2024 after testing positive for diuretics and masking agents.
Ryan Garcia’s positive test for the banned PED Ostarine following a three-knockdown victory over Devin Haney changed the outcome to a no-contest and came in a bout overseen by trainer Derrick James.
Former bantamweight champion Luis Nery worked with Reynoso after his 2017 positive for zilpaterol, which the WBC later ruled was likely accidentally ingested.
“In my position as a trainer or manager, I have nothing to do with my fighters’ nutrition plans. I don’t cook for the fighters, I don’t buy their food, I don’t give them supplements. I don’t recommend supplements, and I certainly don’t give them banned substances,” Reynoso said in the statement.
“I support drug testing and clean boxing, and I hope everyone I work with shares the same values.”
As he prepares for his September 13 showdown with fellow four-division champion Terence Crawford, Alvarez is subject to random testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
Munguia tested positive for exogenous testosterone in “A” and “B” samples, exposing him to both a suspension and his victory being washed away.
As detailed as he was about the distance he kept from Rodriguez, Reynoso would be best served to detail what happened with Munguia.
Because, like it or not, his fighters’ scandals are his scandals, too.
