Gennady Golovkin: “Canelo Is Cheating,” He’s Using Drugs

Gennady Golovkin, typically mild mannered and quiet outside of the ring, has angrily expressed his feelings about Canelo Alvarez‘s positive tests for clenbuterol in February.

Speaking to the media recently, the unified middleweight champion publicly called Alvarez a cheater for using the banned substance. Golovkin said he does not buy Alvarez’s excuse of contaminated meat for being the reason he tested positive on two separate tests in February.

“Again with Mexican meat? Come on. I told you, it’s not Mexican meat. This is Canelo. This is his team. This is his promotion. Canelo is cheating. They’re using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it’s not happening,” Golovkin said.

Golovkin further expanded on his comments in a phone conversation with ESPN’s Dan Rafael, saying that the excuse of contaminated meat is not a viable one for someone such as Alvarez.

“I think it is silly to blame the meat because an athlete at this level should not be caught on the meat. I eat Mexican food all the time and I’ve never had that problem,” Golovkin said.

It was announced recently by Golden Boy Promotions, the company who promotes Alvarez, that the Mexican boxer tested positive for traces of clenbutero. The press release was also quick to point out that the positive test came from tainted meat Alvarez consumed in Mexico. Clenbuterol is a banned substance in the United States, but not in Mexico, where food regulations are not as strict.

Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, did tell Fightful a couple of weeks ago that the commission is investigating the matter, but would not comment on if the fight is in danger of being called off. It is worth noting that Alvarez did indeed pass his first two tests conducted in early March.

Alvarez and Golovkin are currently scheduled to face off in a rematch on HBO pay-per-view on May 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The first fight between the two boxers, which also took place in Las Vegas, ended in a controversial split draw. As a result, Golovkin kept his WBA “super,” WBC, IBF and IBO middleweight titles while Alvarez retained his lineal and Ring Magazine middleweight titles. All six of those titles are planned to be on the line in the rematch on 5.