Mauricio Sulaiman wholeheartedly intends to give Canelo Alvarez the full benefit of the doubt following a positive test for Clenbuterol.
The WBC President, speaking to friend of WBN – Peter Kahn at Forbes.com, outlined several facts surrounding the case against Canelo, which is currently under review by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“Canelo enrolled voluntarily in the clean boxing program and has been tested by VADA for over five years in countless fights. We consider that also as a fact, there has never been a positive test, and these tests have been out of competition, which means they are random surprise testing to make sure this clean boxing program works properly,” Sulaiman told Kahn.
Asked whether Canelo and his team were fully responsible for the finding, which was blamed on contaminated meat, Sulaiman replied: “Absolutely, as a high-level competition athlete, he should have a very strong team behind him, but also you have to look at the human aspect.
“He was in Mexico, going back and forth going to several commitments; this could be the result of one appetizer, one steak, one event where he had one taco.”
On his own relations with Canelo – which prior to a recent reconciliation were strained to say the least – Sulaiman stated this was not a chance for the WBC to make things any more difficult for the two-weight world champion.
“I am not trying to protect Canelo; believe me, this was an opportunity for the WBC and myself to take on the last year of abuse that we received from his side.
“It is well documented that there have been problems from the fighter against the WBC for some reasons. But we have to be completely neutral. We have to be fair, and justice has to prevail,” he said.
NSAC chief Bob Bennett is heading the investigation against Canelo, which is not expected to mean the cancellation of a planned rematch with Gennady Golovkin on May 5 in Las Vegas.
