Abel Sanchez, trainer for Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), says Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has vindicated himself for a pair of failed tests for performance enhancing drugs.
Back in February, Canelo came up positive for the banned substance clenbuterol in two separate tests.
The positive tests would lead to a six month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission - and it forced a May date for the Golovkin rematch to get pushed back to the fall.
The two boxers finally met in the ring last Saturday night, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
And Canelo came away with a twelve round majority decision victory - and Golovkin's WBC, WBA middleweight titles.
Golovkin suffered the first defeat of his career as a pro.
In the first bout, the two boxers fought to a controversial twelve round split draw at the same Las Vegas venue.
In the build to the rematch, Sanchez had ridiculed Canelo for using too much movement in the first contest.
And second time around, Canelo came forward and took the fight to Golovkin, who was backing up for much of the contest.
Sanchez praised Canelo for his performance and believes the entire drug testing scandal is now officially a thing of the past.
"I think he’s vindicated. I think that he fought the kind of fight that his fans and the fans in general expected. He fought the kind of fight that he talked about. He made a mistake and we have to believe that he did it, he was checked twelve to fourteen times for this fight and they were all negative. They put on the kind of fight that clean good fighters put on, giving us the thrills in every round. The pace was unbelievable, it was great to see from the corner," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
I don't see how he is "vindicated". If anything it sends tge nessage that cheats win when it comes to boxing.
Canelo was cycling clenbuterol between the furst fight and the rematch. Gets caught. Gets a slap on the wrist. The rematch is postponed which only serves to give Canelo a year to prepare, while Golovkin has a full camp, standin opponent & a year older. Getting busted actually helped him.
..I don't see any connection between "vindicating himself for positive tests" and winning the fight..Sanchez obviously embarked on good-guy-bad-guy strategy..
He's playing the good guy now, raving about how talented and special Canelo is.
Sanchez is finally correct. But like when he constantly goaded Canelo to fight in the mythical Mexican Style, his current compliments are equally transparent.
Being derogatory would only ensure that Canelo and GBP would reject a third fight next September, depriving Golovkin (and Sanchez) of one final huge paycheck.
