By Miguel Rivera

For seven years, several international anti-doping agencies have warned athletes about the risk of testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol after eating meat in Mexico, because many farmers in the country are illegally using it to fatten up their livestock.

Starting with the five players of the Mexican national team who were suspended during the 2011 Gold Cup because they tested positive for traces of clenbuterol in their systems, there has been a considerable list of athletes who have been left dirty due to alleged food contamination in the Aztec lands.  

When former super featherweight world champion Francisco 'Bandido' Vargas heard about cases like these, he usually dd not give them the benefit of the doubt because he did not believe that an athlete could test positive by simply eating something.

He thought the athletes were making excuses - until it happened to him.

"I thought 'well, maybe they took something'," Vargas told Albert Perez.

And instantaneously his perspective changed. In the lead-up to his 2016 clash with Orlando Salido, Vargas tested positive for clenbuterol.

"When things happen to you, it's when you realize the whole situation," Vargas said. "You learn, you start asking questions and doing research. You already know that in Mexico this problem really exists." 

The 'Bandit' indicated that the news astonished him immensely because he had never taken anything illegal and he himself had requested voluntary anti-doping tests for the fight against Salido, because in 2006 it was Salido who had tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and Vargas wanted to ensure that he was clean.

"We asked them to not have any surprises with Salido, and in the end we came out with [the positive result]," Vargas said with a laugh.    

The fighter told the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) that he tested positive for clenbuterol because during his camp in his native Mexico City, he ate a considerable amount of meat that his mother had served to him.

In the end, considering that they only found traces of the substance in his system and that he had been negative in subsequent tests, the organization accepted his explanation and let him fight.  

Vargas, 33, said the process to clarify his name before the commission was quite arduous. He had to submit to 10 tests over a period of nine weeks and the uncertainty disconcerted him a little.

"There is a more severe testing control with you, you do not know at what moment they are going to come and they are going to test you. Until everything is clarified, there is doubt [about you]," Vargas said.  

"It's annoying and uncomfortable. You do your job, you get up early to go running and you train hard to get good results so that people go around saying you're using banned substances. That's ugly."

And making the headlines in the last few weeks is his Golden Boy stablemate, Canelo Alvarez,  who is going through the exact same situation after also testing positive for clenbuterol.

Vargas sympathizes with him. He considers that the only reason why Canelo's case has become a huge scandal is because of his fame.       

"We hope that Canelo remains very focused and that he does not pay attention to the comments," Vargas said. "Everyone knows Canelo. He is a very famous fighter and because of that the news exploded all over the place. And by the same token, he has a lot people who do not support him and that's why he gets a lot of criticism."

Canelo must state his case at a hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on April 10, and the NSAC will decide if the Mexican star can move forward with a planned fight against middleweight king Gennady Golovkin on May 5th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.