Golden Boy Promotions announced today that Canelo Alvarez has withdrawn from the fight against Gennady Golovkin. Alvarez was temporarily suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission due to failing a pair of drug tests for the banned substance clenbuterol.
An April 18th hearing was schedule to determine the fate of the rematch between Alvarez and GGG. The NAC sought to suspend Alvarez for 1 year due to the failed tests.
Alvarez and his promoters made the withdrawal official via conference call with the media on Tuesday. Alvarez maintained his innocence that he is a clean fighter that does not use PEDs.
Their first fight drew $27 million in live-gate earnings and an estimated 1.3 million PPV buys. Despite the belief that the NAC would not derail a rematch which drew so well this past September, the NAC took the test failures seriously.
Alvarez claims that the failed tests were due to tainted meat he consumed while training in Mexico.
GGG wants to fight on May 5th and a replacement for Alvarez is taking place. The event on May 5th is likely to be moved from the T-Mobile Arena to the MGM Grand which is a smaller venue.
Alvarez’s one-year suspension with the NAC will date back to his first positive test on February 17.
Payout Perspective:
This is a shocking development and a blow for boxing fans as many had anticipated this rematch. Withdrawing from the fight is interesting as it ensures that Canelo will not fight in Vegas until 2019. We will see if this strains ties between Golden Boy and the NAC if/when Golden Boy decides to promote fights. While Vegas is the de facto place for big fights, the commission’s stance to file an official Complaint against Alvarez may have the promotion look to New York or another venue for events. HBO PPV is also a loser here as any replacement for Canelo will not draw as many buys as a the Canelo-GGG II PPV would have produced.
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