Canelo Alvarez Suspended 6 Months for Positive PED Test Before GGG Fight

Middleweight boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez was suspended for six months Wednesday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his failed drug test in March.

TMZ noted Alvarez was scheduled for a rematch with Gennady Golovkin on May 5, but that date had already been canceled.

Per the report, Canelo had a positive test for Clenbuterol on March 5 and blamed the result on tainted Mexican beef.

As noted by boxing analyst Max Kellerman, the explanation could be plausible depending on the levels of steroids that were found:

TMZ noted a six-month punishment is relatively light.

Dan Rafael of ESPN had more details:

GGG has already announced a new opponent for May 5, as he'll defend his IBO, WBA and WBC titles against Vanes Martirosyan, who hasn't fought since 2016 and has lost two of his last three bouts.

Golovkin is expected to cruise to an easy win, setting up one of the most anticipated rematches in boxing today.

The two top fighters in the middleweight division finally came face-to-face in the ring last year, fighting out a controversial draw in September.

One of the judges, Adalaide Byrd, came under criticism for her scorecard, scoring the fight 118-110 for Canelo. Most fans and pundits thought GGG won the fight, and Byrd took some time off from judging after the controversy, per Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com.

Canelo will be eligible to fight again August 17, per Rafael, and the rematch between him and GGG could take place in September―if the latter takes care of business against Martirosyan.