Canelo Alvarez Agrees to Year-Round Voluntary PED Testing

Canelo Alvarez announced Tuesday that he has signed a contract to take part in year-round Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) testing:

The boxing star failed two drug tests in February with trace amounts of clenbuterol in his system, which forced him to withdraw from the highly anticipated rematch against Gennady Golovkin on May 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The two fought to a draw the first time around last September.

The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Alvarez for six months because of the positive drug tests, pushing the rematch to a later date if it ever comes to fruition. Golovkin instead faced Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 at StubHub Center in Carson, California, and won via knockout in the second round.

The WBC dropped Alvarez from the world rankings at middleweight after he failed to re-enroll in a year-round testing program, per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.

"The WBC rules are clear and apply to every fighter," WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman in a statement. "All champions and top-15 fighters must enroll in the Clean Boxing Program. Failure to do so results in being taken out of the rankings."

Alvarez (49-1-2) had been the top-ranked contender for the WBC title.

While the Mexican star still has to wait for his suspension to end and prove he can remain clean of banned substances, enrolling in VADA is the first step toward possibly getting a new title fight.