Canelo vs. Golovkin rematch cancelled after Alvarez withdraws

After a pair of failed drug tests for Canelo Alvarez, the hotly-anticipated May 5 bout with Gennady Golovkin has officially been cancelled. Alvarez announced Tuesday he was pulling out of the fight, but has maintained he is a clean fighter who tested positive as a result of contaminated meat.

Alvarez vs. Golovkin was to be a rematch of their first contest from September 2017, when they fought to a split draw. Golovkin is widely considered the top active middleweight boxer in the world, and beating Alvarez was supposed to cement his legacy. Alvarez has just one career loss in 49 fights, to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.

Golovkin remains undefeated at 37-0-1, and claimed prior to the bout getting cancelled that he still intended to have a match with somebody on May 5, though no potential opponents have been openly discussed at this time.

It’s worth noting the substance in question, clenbuterol, has shown up in several “contaminated meat” cases in Mexico and other countries across multiple sports. After Alvarez claimed he was a clean fighter, the Nevada State Athletic Commission planned to continue testing him, with a hearing scheduled in late April.

It seems Alvarez doesn’t think that hearing would go well at this point.

If Golovkin remains on a May 5 card, it would likely remain an HBO pay-per-view affair from Las Vegas, but no fight they could make at this point would compare with the originally scheduled rematch.