By Keith Idec
Teddy Atlas suspects bad publicity recently is behind the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s movement toward extending Canelo Alvarez’s performance-enhancing drug suspension and postponing his rematch against Gennady Golovkin.
The longtime ESPN boxing analyst said during a “SportsCenter” segment Friday that he expects the Alvarez-Golovkin middleweight championship rematch to be postponed from May 5 until an unspecified date in September.
The NSAC has filed a complaint against Alvarez because he tested positive twice for clenbuterol as part of tests administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association in February.
The Mexican superstar’s hearing is scheduled for April 18 in Las Vegas, though NSAC executive director Bob Bennett has said it could take place sooner. Unless Alvarez and his team can prove during that meeting that clenbuterol turned up in his system from contaminated meat he ate in Mexico, where meat contamination is a prevalent problem, the NSAC could suspend him for up to one year from the time of his first positive test (February 17).
“I said earlier on SportsCenter, the 10:30 version of SportsCenter,” Atlas said, “that I will drop dead before that fight doesn’t happen.”
When asked if he meant the fight won’t take place May 5, Atlas added, “No, that’s where I’ve gotta qualify. I didn’t qualify that it won’t happen in May. I don’t think it’ll happen in May because they have to show some credibility, even if it’s false, momentary credibility, just for the moment, where they say, ‘Oh, we’ve gotta do something here because there’s too much bad publicity out there.’
“So the commission will go and suspend him, and the fight will wind up happening in September. And guess what September is It’s Mexican Independence Day. It works perfect. So yeah, the fight won’t happen [May 5]. There’ll be a six-month suspension. Whoop-de-doo. And then the fight will happen because the money is there.”
The 27-year-old Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) regularly fights twice a year – once around Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and again around Mexican Independence Day (September 16). His first fight against Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) resulted in a controversial draw September 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The NSAC drew a lot of criticism after that 12-round bout because one of the judges it assigned to the high-profile pay-per-view fight, Adelaide Byrd, scored it 118-110 for Alvarez. Most observers believe Golovkin won, but Byrd scored 10 of 12 rounds for Alvarez.
Nevertheless, Atlas cannot envision the Alvarez-Golovkin rematch not taking place later this year.
“You have to remember, these commissions are appointed by the governor,” Atlas said. “They’re put in there, politically appointed people. So you don’t think someone from the governor’s office is gonna call up and say, ‘Hey, you better let that fight happen. There’s too much revenue involved for the state of Nevada?’ Yeah, the fight will happen, not in May, but it’ll wind up happening in September, [Mexican] Independence Day.”
Kazakhstan’s Golovkin intends to fight May 5, if not against Alvarez, than versus an opponent willing to take that difficult fight on short notice.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.