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Canelo responds to Golovkin comments, De La Hoya says ‘he’s the model for what we want the best in our sport to be’

Written by Keeran Rajan on 4th April 2018.

Canelo is currently dealing with the fallout of his decision to withdraw from his highly anticipated May 5th rematch with Gennady Golovkin.

The Mexican tested positive for Clenbuterol on tests taken February 17 and February 20.

Canelo has been adamant ever since that information was revealed that the result of the failed test arose as a result of consumption of contaminated meat.

Golovkin has been adamant however that his contemporary is not being truthful about the real reason he has failed his tests.

“To be honest, what Golovkin or his team say doesn’t bother me at all,” Alvarez said through a translator during a press conference in Los Angeles.

‘Canelo’ claims he is not bothered by ‘GGG’s comments because he feels the Kazakh native is trying to conjure up an excuse to not fight him.

“Because No. 1, they’re not doctors, they’re not the experts. I don’t pay attention to them. It sounds more to me like an excuse of not wanting to fight me, like he’s scared, to be honest.”

Although the immediate future is somewhat up in the air, the former 2-weight world champion claims he still has his eyes set on a second battle with Golovkin.

“Absolutely, that is the fight that I want,” Alvarez said.

“That is the fight that I wanna give the fans. That is the fight. As soon as we get the green light, that is the fight that I’ll go for.”

Oscar De La Hoya, the face of Golden Boy Promotions and former 6-weight world champion added he launched a staunch defence of his fighter and claimed Alvarez is ‘the model for what we want the best in our sport to be’.

“Thank you, Canelo, for your honest words and sincerity. I know that there have been many questions and speculation about Canelo and the events of the last couple of weeks.”

Today I want to speak to Canelo’s character and how he is different from the vast majority of boxers I’ve seen in more than 25 years in this business.

“I can assure you that both inside and outside the ring, Canelo has always displayed a professionalism and commitment that is too often absent in this sport.”

“I’ve known Canelo since he was a teenager,” De La Hoya continued.

“Even then, he worked hard, handled himself with grace and class and showed the utmost respect for the sport.”

Over the years, while some of his peers have acted foolishly and without regard or respect for the sport, Canelo has repeatedly shown he is the consummate gentleman and has gone to where he is today as a fighter through dedication, focus and hard work.

Quite simply, he’s the model for what we want the best in our sport to be.

“I know my description of Canelo’s character matches what you’ve all seen from him over the years as well.”

“I sincerely hope that given his unblemished record of having never tested positive in more than 90 tests in and out of competition, with more than 52 professional fights, you would be willing to give Canelo fair consideration.”

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