By Miguel Rivera
The president of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Sulaiman , once again touched on the issue of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and took aim at the critics who continue to attack the Mexican superstar.
Canelo has been under fire since it was revealed earlier this month that he tested positive for low levels of clenbuterol - as part of the drug testing protocol for the upcoming rematch with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
The tests were carried out in February, but Sulaiman says there were additional tests that were more recent and they came up negative.
The rematch is scheduled for May 5th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Sulaiman is concerned that Canelo is being attacked by critics who are accusing the boxer of being a cheater and a doper.
Canelo and his team have claimed food contamination was the root cause for the failed tests - a position that Sulaiman agrees with.
The boxer has been part of the WBC's Clean Boxing program and never had an issue in the past.
"Everyone took the opportunity to criticize Canelo. He can be criticized for other things, but not cheating, much less being a boxer who uses doping to take advantage of his opponent," Sulaiman said during the festivities for the 55th anniversary of the World Boxing Council.
"There were other tests that were done, and they went negative. Everything indicates that the fight on May 5 does not have any risk of being canceled. There will be a stricter monitoring [in terms of drug testing]. I ask you to respect Saul Alvarez , because it is unfair to cross him out because of something that [he didn't do]."
"For five years, Saul has been subjected to a lot of VADA tests as part of the Clean Boxing program and he has always come out clean. Clenbuterol is a national problem [in Mexico], there are many who give this to their animals to make them fat and the boxer is not looking to gain weight.. on the contrary, he seeks to reduce it. Everything says that this was contamination by way of contaminated meat."
