Golden Boy Promotions has issued a noon Pacific Time deadline on Wednesday for Gennady Golovkin to sign on for the rematch with Canelo Alvarez, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Golden Boy has offered 42.5 % of the revenue to Golovkin.

“This is final,” Golden Boy President Eric Gomez said. “We’ve been through everything. We’ve been through the hoops, the monkey bars, the slides. No more playing games. He has until noon (PT) to accept or walk away. If he walks away, good luck to him.

“We’ve gone above and beyond to make this fight happen. Canelo really wants to make this fight happen for the fans. (Golden Boy CEO) Oscar (De La Hoya) really wants to make it for the fans and everyone involved and we’re meeting him halfway.”

“Our original deal in May for the rematch was 35 percent to Golovkin. Then they wanted 50-50, which was ridiculous to begin with,” Gomez said. “But in consideration we’re willing to meet them halfway. I got off the phone (on Tuesday afternoon) with Tom Loeffler and told him you have 24 hours to accept or we are fighting Danny Jacobs.”

“Gennady was very clear when he made the concession to come off 50-50. He really feels in his heart it should be an even split,” Loeffler said “He made the concession at 55-45. Gennady is the one who will make the final decision, so I will give him an update on it and see what he wants to do. My opinion is it’s the biggest fight in boxing and both sides should figure out a way to make it work.”

“Tom said he will talk to Gennady and see if we can get him to budge. He’s trying,” Gomez said. “He’s been a gentleman to me through all of this. Basically, it’s an ungodly amount of money being offered to Golovkin that he will never see again if he walks away. He could make maybe 10 times more money for this fight than any other fight he decides to take. (Top Rank chairman) Bob Arum once said, ‘You can’t spend a percentage’ and he is right. Oscar and I have discussed it. He’s discussed it with Canelo and it’s been long enough. We’ve waited since early April to get everything back on track. We’ve had countless conversations. I think Canelo is being very reasonable, above and beyond reasonable, as well as Oscar. You can lead a donkey to water but you can’t make him drink.”

Gomez said he has remained in touch with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who represents Jacobs, and has kept him up to date on the situation.

“Eddie Hearn is anxious to get the fight done for Jacobs,” Gomez said. “I have made him aware there is a possibility of a Golovkin fight because I don’t want to mislead him. But we’re within striking distance of being able to make the Canelo fight with Jacobs if Golovkin walks away.”

Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has come off he demands for a 50-50 split for the rematch with Canelo Alvarez, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Gennady has agreed to come off his 50-50 demand,” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler said, shortly after Golovkin had been stripped of his IBF belt for not facing Sergiy Derevyanchenko, the organization’s mandatory challenger. “Gennady wants the rematch with Canelo regardless of what Oscar says. He always wanted the fight with Canelo.

“He will come down to 55-45, which makes Canelo the A side. It will be Canelo making 55 percent in a rematch against GGG, which will be much bigger than the first fight was for sure. The rematch with GGG is his biggest fight by far and Gennady’s biggest fight. That’s the fight we want.”

“I’m not negotiating with Oscar. I’m negotiating with Eric Gomez,” Loeffler said of the Golden Boy Promotions president, who has been the company’s point person in the discussions. “I spoke to Eric [on Wednesday] and he’s going to go to Oscar and Canelo and see if they can get something done.”

Gomez was traveling Wednesday from Los Angeles to Verona, New York, for Golden Boy’s ESPN2-televised card on Friday night, but when reached during his layover in Chicago, he said he had spoken to Loeffler but did not know whether De La Hoya and Alvarez would be willing to return to the bargaining table.

“I just spoke to Tom a little bit ago,” Gomez said. “I told him I am going to be speaking to Oscar about it, and then we will talk to Canelo. We’ll see what happens.”

The negotiations for the rewatch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin have stalled and Alvarez has now turned his attention to Daniel Jacobs, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“He’s (Golovkin) stubborn and wanting 50-50, and it’s not going to happen,” Alvarez promoter Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN about Golovkin. “The Canelo train has left the station.”

“So there’s a deal on the table for Daniel Jacobs to fight Sept. 15 against Canelo,” De La Hoya said. “Eddie loves the idea. He loves the fight. Daniel Jacobs loves the fight, and we love the fight as well. So we’re just moving forward and making sure that Canelo has the toughest dance partner possible for Sept. 15.”

“I can tell you that we love the fight,” Jacobs promoter Eddie Hearn said. “It’s a fight that when I signed Daniel Jacobs he told me he believes he beats Canelo every day of the week. We had a brief conversation with Golden Boy about a week ago or so [when Alvarez-Golovkin negotiations were first on the ropes], and it was hard to tell whether it was part of the plan in the negotiations with Canelo-Golovkin or if they really wanted the fight. We confirmed our interest, and today we received an official offer to fight Canelo on Sept. 15.

“I’ve taken the offer to Keith Connolly, Danny’s manager, Danny. We’re extremely interested. Obviously, it’s a huge fight.”

“It’s a first offer, and we are not looking to be difficult, but we know our value in the fight,” Hearn said. “We have a guy in Daniel Jacobs who, in my opinion, beat Gennady Golovkin, but in anybody’s opinion had a wonderful fight with Golovkin which many couldn’t split. In that respect, I see Jacobs as the perfect guy to fight Canelo.

“This is one of the reasons we signed with HBO — to get this fight. Now we’re here. I will push for every dime for my client. At the same time, we realize this is a wonderful opportunity, and we’ll do everything we can to make this fight. This is a major, major, major fight for Danny Jacobs. We know the money involved in the fight. We believe it does big pay-per-view numbers.”

De La Hoya said he hoped to also wrap it up quickly.

“The deadline is going to be middle of this month because we have to start promoting and lock down everything,” he said. “Our sponsors are ready to go, and we want to give the fight fans the best possible fight, and unfortunately GGG didn’t budge from his 50-50, so we’re moving on.”

“Jacobs gave GGG a run for his money. A lot of people thought that he won,” De La Hoya said. “I can’t say he won’t be Canelo’s toughest fight. He might be tougher than GGG.”

“What people are not understanding is I am not going to come off my demands for the rematch,” De La Hoya said. “The fact that GGG is stubborn on a 50-50 split, and it’s ludicrous. It’s never going to happen. He wants 50-50, and it’s never going to happen. We had already come to terms, and they had the contracts a long time, several weeks, and now he wants 50-50?”

“We were willing to budge, but now I’m fed up with this, and I’ve decided to move on. So we are talking to Eddie Hearn about Jacobs,” De La Hoya said. “Let’s make the best deal possible. The deal is on the table for Daniel Jacobs, and hopefully we can get it signed sooner than later so we can start promoting the fight.”

“I spoke to Eric [Monday night], and we were still in discussions, so I think if there’s a way to find a solution, we’ll try to find it, but I didn’t speak to him [on Tuesday],” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler said. “But 50-50 is the position [Golovkin] has taken. Canelo’s taken his position. It’s our job to figure out if there’s a way to make the fight work. All I can say is that those two guys [Alvarez and Jacobs] are guys GGG already beat last year. Canelo would make more in a GGG fight than he will against Daniel Jacobs, so that goes both ways.”

“If GGG ever comes to his senses, we can fight next year if he wants for Cinco de Mayo,” De La Hoya said. “I tell you one thing — the money he would make for Canelo, he now has to fight five or six opponents to make that kind of money. We’ve moved on.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Stalled negotiations for a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch are diverting attention and headlines away from two intriguing fights – Abner Mares-Leo Santa Cruz II in Los Angeles and Terence Crawford’s welterweight debut against Jeff Horn in Las Vegas, both on June 9.

It reminds me of an old line: The only thing killing boxing is boxing. It is the flaw, the proverbial glass jaw, that always seems to undercut a chaotic business that just can’t get out of its own way.

Television ratings have been promising this year, especially on ESPN. There’s an audience of young fans in America’s changing demographics. There’s looming interest in Crawford, Mikey Garcia, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Santa Cruz, Mares, Oscar Valdez Jr., Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.

But today the business is being held hostage by talk that has been about percentages. According to various reports, GGG wants an equitable split, 50-50, since Canelo’s positive PED tests and subsequent withdrawal from a rematch that was supposed to happen on May 5. Canelo’s Golden Boy reps are reportedly standing by numbers they said were the terms of the initial deal, 65 percent for Canelo and 35 for GGG.

Those are numbers that are interesting only if you’re shopping for a new mortgage. Fans, I suspect, only want to know there’s a date and place for an opening bell.

In the here and now, who knows. There has only been a chilling silence for the last week. As I write this, there have been no reports talks have resumed.

I keep thinking back to GGG’s comment a couple of days before his swift, second-round stoppage of Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Then, he said there was only a 10 percent chance that a rematch of their controversial draw last September would happen.

Then, it sounded like an opening line in re-setting the table for a new deal in the controversial wake of the Canelo PED controversy, which includes an ongoing, Nevada Athletic Commission-imposed suspension that will end in mid-August. Now, it sounds like a prediction,

I can only hope he’s wrong. At the time, there appears to be some sympathy for his attempt to get more favorable terms. Fifty-fifty looks unlikely. Canelo still ranks as the bigger draw and becomes more of one because of the controversy that now surrounds him.

But a better deal for GGG only seems fair, especially after the cancellation of the May 5 bout. GGG had no hand in the cancellation and, in fact, fought for a reported $1 million guarantee against Martirosyan on the same day. GGG’s promotional rep, Tom Loeffler of K-2, suggested that the Nevada Commission should have levied a fine against Canelo in addition to the suspension. The Commission said a fine was not possible, because Canelo’s positive PED tests in February were not related to a fight that had already happened in the state.

Still, Loeffler said damage had been done to GGG. The only way to get some of it back is through negotiations. Thus far, however, Golden Boy has yet to buy any of it. Hard to know where it goes next, if anywhere.

No rematch is a loss for just about everybody. Hardcore fans will eventually move on to Crawford, Lomachenko, Garcia, Santa Cruz, Mares, Valdez, Joshua and Wilder. But causal fans will again have another reason to stay away.

Meanwhile, no deal for a sequel on September 15 is reason to wonder whether there will ever be a rematch. GGG has bigger global footprint than Canelo. The Kazak fighter, whose pro career started in Germany and includes stops in Monaco, could go to Tokyo for good money against Ryota Murata.

There are also opportunities for Canelo, although the rumored one is bound to get only boos. Spike O’Sullivan? Really? Arguments over a proposed purse split are more interesting.

Billy Joe Saunders also has been mentioned. But both GGG and Canelo need to be careful about the emerging UK middleweight. Saunders has a chance to beat both. GGG has begun to display some wear and tear. At 27, Canelo continues to fight in spurts. Fatigue just might be part of his genetic make-up.

But it’ll get him beat, just as surely as time will eventually beat GGG, who will be 37 next April.

A year or two from now, GGG and Canelo could come back to talk with a loss or two between them and a lot less on the table.

The time is now.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Canelo Alvarez’ enrollment this week in VADA, voluntary drug testing, represents relief for a nervous business still counting on big bucks from a rematch with Gennady Golovkin.

But don’t misinterpret it as a deal.

That would be foolishly premature, way too simple, especially after a contentious few weeks after the May 5 date was scrubbed in the turbulent wake of news that Canelo had tested positive twice for a banned substance.

The rematch is still very possible, probably likely. But circumstances have changed, all of which could have a significant impact on negotiations for a proposed Sept. 15 rematch of the controversial GGG-Canelo draw last September. The door on talks re-opened with Canelo’s tweet Tuesday that he’s back in the VADA program. But the table looks like a very different place from the day when the cancelled May sequel was announced on Jan 29.

GGG, whose evident frustration at the judging in last year’s draw morphed into obvious anger at Canelo’s after the PED controversy in February, said repeatedly before his stoppage of Vanes Martirosyan May 5 that he wanted more equitable terms.

That starts with money, of course. Ends there, too. There’s nothing to discuss without it. Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya was quoted in media reports that Canelo decided to re-join VADA for his fans. For the money, too. Where else is he going to get a chance at $50 million?

That’s was the potential for his final purse last September for a fight that did a reported 1.3 million pay-per-view buys. According to media speculation before the bout, the PPV number would have had to have been 1.5 million for Canelo to get the $50 million max. It not clear whether he did. But he got close enough to want to take another bite at about that, far and away, makes the most sense. And dollars.

This time around, however, it fair to guess that Canelo is going to want a bigger share. Based roughly on guarantees — $5 million for Canelo and $ 3 million for GGG — filed in contracts with the Nevada Athletic Commission last September, the final split of revenue was 62.5 percent for Canelo and 37.5 percent for GGG.

It’ll be no surprise if GGG demands a 50-50 split. The first fight, after all, was a draw. On the scorecards, it was demonstrably 50-50. In the court of public opinion, meanwhile, it’s still a debate, also an ongoing sales pitch for the rematch.

Then, there’s controversy surrounding Canelo’s PED tests for clenbuterol, a banned substance he says he got from unknowingly eating contaminated Mexican beef. GGG doesn’t believe him. Turns out, neither do a lot of fans, who expressed their skepticism throughout media reports of GGG’s decision to fight on Cinco De Mayo anyway, against Martirosyan, a late stand-in at StubHub Center.

The bout was panned by many in the media. Martirosyan was gone, knocked out and flat on the canvas, before the end of the second round. But the argument about Canelo and why he had not re-enrolled in VADA lingered.

Unintended or not, a forgettable fight provided a forum for criticism of Canelo in social and mainstream media. It grew, putting pressure on Canelo to do Tuesday what had to be done if the rematch was to have any chance at happening.

It’s a mystery as to why he didn’t enroll in VADA earlier. It’s a mystery, too, as to why he didn’t hold a news conference in late February to just say that he, like anybody else, sometimes gets a meal off the back of a taco truck. He ate one with some tainted meat. No crime there. A lot of people would not have believed him. A lot of people never will. But some would have.

Now, however, Canelo finds himself with a burden of proof he has never had to shoulder. The skepticism expressed about him over the last couple of months is perhaps symptomatic of an erosion in faith from fans whose unquestioned loyalty gave him leverage in negotiations. He could always say he was the draw. He still is, but maybe not by the margin he once had.

What happens within that margin figures to decide when and where – maybe even if — this rematch happens.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Canelo Alvarez has enrolled in VADA testing in the wake of his positive test for a banned substance that forced the cancellation of his May 5 bout with Gennady Golovkin.

“I want to let you know that I just signed the contract with VADA for year round testing,” Alvarez wrote on Twitter.

“We have received paperwork from Mr. Alvarez’s representatives for year-round testing (24/7/365) through VADA,” Dr. Margaret Goodman, president of VADA, said in an email to ESPN.

“This is good news,” Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN. “This is voluntary and Canelo is paying for the testing out of his own pocket because he wants to prove to his fans that he is a clean fighter. Any time they want to test him he will make himself available. … Canelo is doing this because he is listening to his fans. The criticism will always be there, but he decided to listen and prove to everyone that he is clean.”

“What people don’t know is Canelo is getting randomly tested by the Nevada commission,” De La Hoya said. “He wants to be tested year-round. He wants to do this for his fans and that’s why he’s doing this so they won’t doubt him.”

“We’ve started discussions with Tom. We want to make the fight happen and this is another step in the right direction,” De La Hoya said. “Every top fighter should be tested by VADA on a year-round basis. That’s the only way to clean up the sport.

“Hopefully, we can make the fight. … These guys, Canelo and GGG, sure don’t like each other now. If the fight happens in September it will be that much better of a fight. Now there really is bad blood. It will be a hell of a fight if it happens in September, but regardless Canelo will be fighting in September.

“This is a huge step, a major hurdle we have cleared. There are no excuses whatsoever. GGG wants the fight, Canelo wants this fight, so let’s just get past this and move forward and give the fans the fight they want to see again.”

Said Loeffler: “I think it’s important for Canelo to be enrolled and that was one of the requirements in the discussions we’ve had with Golden Boy for the rematch. They never balked at it. It’s one less hurdle. I’m in continued discussions with (Golden Boy president) Eric (Gomez) and hopefully we have some resolution here in the near future.”

Before the fight with Martirosyan, Golovkin, a strong testing advocate, said he would re-enroll in VADA to continue out-of-competition testing. “I contacted VADA to re-enroll him and continue the testing he was doing for the fight on May 5,” Loeffler said.

“It hasn’t started yet but I’d imagine it will by next week. With regard to Canelo, I was a little bit surprised that for someone proclaiming his innocence so strongly he wasn’t testing. But it’s good to see him enrolled. It helps his image tremendously and this is something GGG and Abel have always wanted to have — a level playing field for both guys.

“We felt both guys should test continuously leading up to the (rematch). For the last fight the testing started three months before the fight and since Gennady is an advocate for this testing he wanted to lead the way for the continued testing. I think a lot of fighters can slip through loopholes by the testing starting too close to the fight and then it doesn’t matter.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Vasiliy Lomachenko-Jorge Linares Saturday at New York’s Madison Square Garden is an opportunity to reset the table on a year that began amid promise and yet has been muddied by the May 5 cancellation of Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez and the continuing controversy over when — or if — Canelo will enroll in VADA, the voluntary testing procedure that appears to be fundamental to any chance of reaching an agreement for a rematch in September.

There’s no controversy about Lomachenko-Linares. There’s just intrigue, anticipation and the pound-for-pound argument.

Lomachenko’s bid for a third title at a third weight, 135 pounds, is the first half of a 2018 debate about a further claim on the pound-for-pound’s mythical title. At the end of 2017, Lomachenko, a former featherweight and junior-lightweight champion, held a slight edge in the various polls and among the voters.

But Terence Crawford was always in the hunt. Still is.

Crawford, a former lightweight and junior-welterweight champ, will deliver his bid next month, June 9 at Las Vegas MGM Grand, in his first bout at 147 pounds against Australian Jeff Horn.

Guess here: Both Lomachenko and Crawford will prevail.

The real question rests in who will have looked better in their first fight at a heavier weight.

It’s a debate that figures to continue for a while. Lomachenko and Crawford are the same age. They’re both 30.

Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) possesses an unprecedented array of angles in his variety of punches. For the ringside aficionado, there is a cutting-edge style to what Lomachenko does with his gloved hands.

In Crawford, there’s ruthlessness matched by ambidextrous hands quick to strike from just about anywhere.

Both Top Rank-promoted fighters are fascinating to watch. Take your pick and be prepared to change it over the next few years. They figure to energize the pound-for-pound debate no matter what happens with GGG-Canelo.

Saturday is the opening salvo. Linares (44-3, 27 KOs), the World Boxing Association’s 135-pound belt holder, says he is not fooled by all that has been said about the creatively-dangerous Lomachenko.

“I am going to prove that Lomachenko is not an invincible fighter,’’ Linares said this week during the promotional build-up to the main event on the ESPN-televised card (8 p.m. ET).

Linares, who is an inch taller and has a 3 1/2 -inch advantage in reach, is promising to take Lomachenko into later rounds. But the cutting-edge adjective so often applied to Lomachenko might to be more than just a rhetorical embellishment of what Lomachenko does to Linares. Linares has suffered bad cuts in at least three bouts, including successive losses to Antonio DeMarco and Sergio Thompson in 2011 and 2012. Lomachenko’s many angles can put a real razor-like affect into that cutting edge.

We’ll see.

Then, we’ll see Crawford.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LOS ANGELES – Gennady Golovkin smiled. Said thanks. He might have kissed a few babies, too.

The middleweight, best known for his GGG acronym, did everything he had to Friday at a hotel just a few miles of roadwork from the LAX runways. Oh yeah, he made weight, too.

GGG (37-0-1, 27 KOs) was supposed to be at 160 pounds and that’s exactly what he was, not a digital fraction over or under the mandatory for a defense of two of his titles, the WBC and WBA, against Vanes Martirosyan on HBO (9 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET) Saturday at StubHub down the freeway in Carson.

Martirosyan (36-3-1 21 KO), a huge underdog from nearby Glendale Calif, was at 159.6 pounds for his first bout at middleweight.

There were no missteps on the scale or anywhere else from Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) in a moment that was as political as it was pugilistic. It was almost as if GGG wanted to let the contrast with his original opponent, suspended Canelo Alvarez, say it all.

For weeks, GGG has been saying plenty to the media about his contempt for Canelo, who tested positive twice for a banned substance and then withdrew from what would have been a rich Cinco de Mayo rematch of last September’s controversial draw in Las Vegas. At the weigh-in, however, GGG only had a couple of words, which he repeated after the ritual weigh-in and nose-to-nose pose for the photographers in a jammed ballroom.

“Thank you, thank you,’’ he said to the crowd, which included lots of fans wearing shirts and caps saying Mexicans For GGG.

The thanks came in the wake of further news that casts a shadow on whether there will be a Sept. 15 rematch with Canelo, whose six-month suspension from the Nevada Commission will end in mid-August. Before the thanks, GGG said Canelo was bad for boxing in an interview with ESPN and BoxingScene. He told Yahoo that, at best, there was only a 10 percent chance of the rematch happening. If he beats Martirosyan as expected, no telling what he’ll say at the post-fight news conference. May be, he’s only negotiating. If so, the negotiations have a long, perhaps rocky way to go.

For now, it sounds as if GGG is no rush to get the rematch, even though it would – far and away – represent his biggest payday. According to contracts filed with the California Commission Friday, GGG’s guarantee for Saturday is $1 million.

It’s believed he will get more, perhaps three times as much, after percentages are included for a card that promoters began to put together just two-and-a-half weeks ago. Whatever his final take is, however, it will be a fraction of what he and Canelo made in September.

According to various sources, Canelo collected $50 million. GGG, who can tie Bernard Hopkins’ record for 20 successive title defenses Saturday, got less than that. There are conflicting reports, but whatever it was, it was several multiples more than what he’ll see for fighting Martirosyan, a former junior middleweight whose guarantee for Saturday is $225,000.

Saturday night televised card will also include an HBO first. Welterweights Cecilia Braekhus and Kali Reis will be the first women to appear in a co-main event.

Canelo Alavrez tested negative for any performance enhancing drugs on a test of his hair, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“From the beginning, Canelo has insisted that he accidentally ingested clenbuterol from eating tainted meat,” Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarez’s promoter, told ESPN. “The fact this NSAC-required hair follicle test came back entirely negative for any traces of clenbuterol should lay to rest any suspicion that he was intentionally taking a banned substance. Canelo is looking forward to getting back into training and returning to the ring in September. He thanks all of his fans for sticking by him and believes this test proves once and for all that he is a clean fighter.”

“They found traces of clenbuterol in his system and if he was using it (to dope) there would probably still be enough in his system that it would show up in his hair,” Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN. “We did the hair test to prove this was accidental. Canelo is telling the truth about the meat contamination and he went far and beyond what he had to do by agreeing to have this hair test done so he can keep on proving that he is an innocent fighter.

“Meat contamination is a problem in Mexico. It happened with the national soccer team and it has happened with several athletes in Mexico. I believe what Canelo wants to do now is keep proving until his career is over, 10 or 15 years from now, that he is a clean fighter and an innocent fighter and that he did not do this purposely whatsoever.”

“We initiated the test to be as comprehensive as possible but knowing it’s very difficult, according to the experts,” Bennett said. “It’s a difficult process to be able to confirm whether there is clenbuterol in the hair follicles, but I talked to (SMRTL president and laboratory director) Dr. (Michael) Eichner and he said they’d run the test even though it is even more difficult to run on light-colored hair. But we sent them the samples and the tests came back negative.”

“He will fight in September and he will continue to test and continue to abide by all the rules and regulations,” De La Hoya said.

“Canelo is ready and willing and able to do whatever the commission asks. We’re waiting to hear back from VADA on when he can start testing again. Canelo is willing to pay for the program. He is willing to do whatever it takes to clear his name, including take a lie detector test. We’re going to do one. He wants to prove he is a clean fighter.

“We first have to see what happens with Golovkin on May 5 and then we’ll take it from there, but Canelo will definitely fight in September,” De La Hoya said. “Golovkin is the priority, but we don’t know what will happen on May 5. But on our side, Canelo will fight in September.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez are linked only by mutual contempt, genuine in tone and intensifying in the wake of the May 5 bout canceled by Canelo’s withdrawal from the rematch before his subsequent six-month suspension for two positive PED tests in February.

After the Nevada Athletic Commission announced an abbreviated suspension of Canelo last week, the prevailing assumption was that the middleweight sequel would happen in September in what would eventually look more like a postponement than a cancellation. Guess here: That’s still a pretty good assumption. Economically, it’s still the fight that makes the most sense. Dollars, too.

But GGG’s anger, rooted in his frustration at scoring in last September’s draw, continues to be loud, clear and amplified by his mistrust in Canelo’s assertion that the PED, clenbuterol, was simply the result of tainted Mexican meat.

There are moments when GGG just sounds as if he’d like to walk away from the prospect of any further business with Canelo.

“Canelo?” GGG asked this week in response to a question during a media session for a stay-busy fight against Vanes Martiroysan in a Cinco De Mayo party re-scheduled for StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. “Right now, he is over. Do I want to have the rematch in September? We’ll see. It’s a different deal. The boxing business is crazy. I’ll fight Canelo again. Ask him if he wants to fight me.

“I no longer think about Canelo.’’

It’s pretty clear that Canelo is anxious to fight – make that punish – GGG in September, about a month after his suspension ends. His promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, has been talking almost as if the September rematch is a done deal. It’s not, of course. First, there’s Martiroysan. GGG is a huge favorite. An upset would be a shocker. Then again, Canelo’s positive PED tests were a shocker, too.

The last couple of months are an inconvenient reminder that bleep and head butts happen. GGG has to win easily and cleanly, meaning he has to finish it without suffering an injury – a fracture or cut — that could sideline him beyond the projected September 15 rematch.

If everything happens as hoped, however, GGG will prevail with a victory and without mishap. Then, it’s on to the negotiations, where the real fight awaits. By now, we know the fighters don’t like each other. There’s enough tension there to suggest that the talks will be difficult.

There are options, good ones for each, if no agreement can be reached. One will play out this Saturday with likable Danny Jacobs in his second fight since a debatable loss by unanimous decision to GGG in March, 2017.

Jacobs made Golovkin, 36, look vulnerable, or at least older. Now he faces a mostly unknown, yet unbeaten Pole, Maciej Sulecki (26-0, 10 KOs) in an HBO-televised bout (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. At 31, Jacobs is in his prime. If he looks good against Sulecki, he would have a pretty good claim on a GGG rematch for the right to be the world’s best middleweight.

Another option is Jermall Charlo, whose emergence at 160 pounds continued with a stoppage of Hugo Centeno last Saturday. Then, there’s Ryota Murata, an Olympic gold medalist with only 15 pro bouts (14-1, 11 KOs), yet big television ratings in Japan.

Jacobs, however, looms as real threat to both GGG and Canelo. On the business scale, Jacobs represents more risk than reward. Charlo might still be a middleweight fight or two away from climbing into contention. Murata looks like good money and an introduction to the rich Asian market.

With every option, however, there’s no match for the interest, significance or money attached to GGG-Canelo II. Even the current level of mutual contempt is stoking public interest for a September showdown. In the here and now, it’s still the only fight that matters.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez insists he is clean. Now, he has a chance to prove it.

The Nevada Athletic Commission gave him that opportunity Wednesday with a unanimous approval of an agreement that means he will serve a six-month suspension instead of a full year for the banned substance, Clenbuterol, that showed up in two tests in February, subsequently forcing him to withdraw from a Gennady Golovkin rematch scheduled for May 5.

The abbreviated suspension means he can still fight Golovkin in September. For now, the cancellation looks more like a postponement. That was the good news for hotels, cab drivers and bartenders up and down the Vegas Strip. They can still look forward to a Cinco De Mayo-like windfall on Sept. 15, the day before Mexican Independence. Yeah, money is still a factor here. Somebody has to pay for those slot machines.

There’s more, however, to it than just that. But it’s up to Canelo, who says the prohibited drug wound up in his blood stream unknowingly. He told Nevada he did not intentionally ingest the steroid-based substance. He blamed it on tainted Mexican beef. In so many words, he makes it sound as if he were an unwitting part of a corrupted food chain. From the butcher to his plate, he says he never knew he was ingesting a compound that has wound up being a very expensive piece of meat.

There’s plausible deniability in all of this, of course. There’s precedence, too. Mexico’s cattlemen have been using the substance to keep their product lean. Mexican boxers and soccer players have tested positive. Meanwhile, The Nevada Commission, a state agency, is bound by law. It played by the book, including Canelo’s status as a first-time offender and his willingness to cooperate as factors in its unanimous approval.

But the court of public opinion is not constrained by law, much less decorum. It’s been a free-for-all, especially on platforms where snark, suspicion, allegation and profanity are part of the digital disorder. It’s social media in name only. Since Wednesday’s ruling in Las Vegas, Canelo has been a convenient target, one of many. No surprise there. Canelo must have known it was coming.

The surprise here, however, is that he wasn’t proactive in addressing the inevitable criticism.

If he had been, he would have been enrolled in VADA – Volunteer Anti-Drug Testing Agency – before it was announced that the Nevada Commission had voted 5-0 in favor of the agreement for his shorter suspension.

Minutes after the hearing, VADA’s Dr. Margaret Goodman told 15 Rounds and the Los Angeles Times that “he was not enrolled at this time.’’ Sure enough, a check of Canelo’s page on www.boxrec.com showed he was not in the testing program that is aligned with the World Boxing Council. Meanwhile, a notation on GGG’s page shows that, yes, he is enrolled. Just checking.

Maybe, Canelo has already turned in the docs that will enroll him. Maybe, he’s doing so while this is being written. Maybe, it’s just process. Or, maybe, it’s just an oversight. But the maybes are an opening for everybody who just doesn’t believe him. There’s not much presumption of innocence left for anybody anywhere any more. But boxing has never enjoyed that presumption any way. There are no innocents, just the usual suspects.

But Canelo has a rare opportunity, one the Nevada Commission gave him Wednesday. He can provide a record, a clean slate of tests supporting what he said after the positive tests were disclosed. The burden of proof awaits him.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez agreed to a six-month suspension and the Nevada Athletic Commission unanimously approved that agreement Wednesday, opening the way for him to fight Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 15 in a rematch that had originally been scheduled for May 5.

The Commission voted 5-0 to accept a signed settlement from Canelo, whose 12-month ban for two positive drug tests was cut in half and will be dated back to the initial test, Feb. 17.

Canelo, who underwent what was reported to be minor knee surgery last week, did not attend the hearing. He was represented on the telephone by attorney Ricardo Cestero.

Canelo, a first-time PED offender, met with Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett and Chairman Anthony A. Marnell a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas for an hour-and-twenty minutes. Bennett said he answered his questions.

“’He did everything we asked for,’’ Bennett said.

Cooperation from Canelo, who blamed positive tests for Clenbuterol on tainted Mexican beef, allowed the Commission to reduce his ban by 50 percent, according to new rules written by the state regulatory board a year ago.

Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo’s promoter, said it was satisfied with the Commission’s approval of Canelo’s agreement to the reduced ban. Golden Boy’s prepared statement:

“As we have maintained all along, the trace amounts of clenbuterol found in Canelo’s system in February came from meat contamination, and we provided the Nevada State Athletic Commission with a great deal of evidence to support those facts.

“Although most professional sports, international anti-doping agencies and United States boxing commissions treat meat contamination differently from other positive tests, Nevada does not. Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions respect the rules of Nevada and are therefore satisfied with the settlement agreement reached today.

“Canelo looks forward to returning to the ring in September for Mexican Independence Day weekend to represent Mexico and boxing in what will be the sport’s biggest event of the year. He is ready to continue his remarkable record of fighting at the highest level.”

If all goes as planned, Golovkin’s suspension will be over in mid-August and he’ll be able to fight on the weekend celebrating Mexican Independence, presumably at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. That’s where the Cinco de Mayo fight, the rematch of a controversial draw last September, was supposed to happen. Canelo withdrew on April 3.

But a lot has to happen before Canelo and GGG can meet again. First, GGG has to win what now appears to be an interim fight against Vanes Martiroysan on May 5 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., in what looks like a Cinco de Mayo bout for some of his most ardent fans.

“He has been looking good and he really wants to fight well for the fans who are at the grass roots of his popularity,’’ said GGG trainer Abel Sanchez, who attended Wednesday’s hearing. “You worry a little that some of this might be a distraction. But he knows what he has to do.’’

GGG is a huge favorite against Martiroysan, who hasn’t fought in a couple of years. If GGG wins as expected, the next step is a deal with Canelo. That might be more difficult than it sounds

If the rematch returns to Nevada, the state Commission will subject Canelo to testing. At this point, however, no fight is scheduled. Nevada only has jurisdiction over fights within its own borders. Meanwhile, Canelo is not currently subject to VADA, the agency that does testing for the World Boxing Council.

“I do not have him (Canelo) enrolled at this time,’’ VADA’s Dr. Margaret Goodman said after the hearing.

Golovkin is enrolled.

GGG representative Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions said Canelo would have to join VADA for there to be a deal for a September rematch.

“Absolutely,’’ said Loeffler, who also attended the hearing. “Definitely, that would be a condition.’’

LOS ANGELES (April 18, 2018) – Golden Boy Promotions has issued the following statement in response to Canelo Alvarez’s settlement agreement with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

“As we have maintained all along, the trace amounts of clenbuterol found in Canelo’s system in February came from meat contamination, and we provided the Nevada State Athletic Commission with a great deal of evidence to support those facts.

Although most professional sports, international anti-doping agencies and United States boxing commissions treat meat contamination differently from other positive tests, Nevada does not. Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions respect the rules of Nevada and are therefore satisfied with the settlement agreement reached today.

“Canelo looks forward to returning to the ring in September for Mexican Independence Day weekend to represent Mexico and boxing in what will be the sport’s biggest event of the year. He is ready to continue his remarkable record of fighting at the highest level.”

Canelo Alvarez had minor knee surgery on Friday, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Alvarez underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bothersome cyst from his right knee in Mexico.

“I share that today I had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery to repair the internal femoral cartilage and eliminate a pathological fold of my right knee,” Alvarez wrote on social media in comments translated from Spanish. “I dismiss the erroneous information published by Golden Boy president Eric Gomez. Thanks for worrying!! And in three to four weeks I’ll be like new.”

There was some confusion earlier in the day when Gomez said Alvarez had undergone “cosmetic” surgery. Gomez later told ESPN that the confusion was in the translation of the description of Alvarez’s surgery from Spanish to English.

“He had a cyst taken out of his knee,” Gomez clarified to ESPN on Friday night. “It’s not an injury. Since the fight [with Gennady Golovkin] was canceled, now was the time for him to take care of it. It was something that has been bothering him. And so now, since he isn’t fighting, it was time to take care of it. But he would have been ready to fight on May 5 if there was a fight. There is no structural problem with his knee.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

It’s not a promising year when the most anticipated moment is a hearing instead of an opening bell.

For now, however, that’s what boxing has at the top of its agenda after a disappointing first quarter and now a second quarter dominated by a Nevada Athletic Commission meeting on April 18 that is expected to determine the length of Canelo’s suspension for two positive PED tests he says were the result of tainted meet.

Much hangs in the balance, including when or even if the Canelo-Gennady Golovkin rematch will happen. It’s off the schedule after Canelo’s withdrawal from a bout originally set for May 5 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. For now, it’s a cancellation. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it looks more like a postponement six months from now. Money is still a factor here and there’s still plenty of it.

The guess from this corner is that Canelo’s withdrawal, despite his denial about knowingly ingesting Clenbuterol, will be viewed as cooperation by the Commission. Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions took the reasonable step. Even if they had fought the allegations and retained the right to fight on Cinco de Mayo, there just wasn’t enough time for fans, promoters and Vegas hotels to properly put on the show. The MGM Grand was already offering ticket refunds. HBO had pulled its advertising. Fans were canceling room and flight reservations.

Canelo’s withdrawal was a pragmatic way to hit the re-set button on the middleweight sequel to their controversial draw last September. Perhaps, a cynical way, too. Whatever you think of it, there’s plenty of reasonable speculation that Canelo, a first-time PED offender, will serve a six-month suspension that will be dated back to the first test, Feb. 17. That means he’ll be eligible to fight again on August 18. The rematch could be re-scheduled for Sept. 15, a Saturday on the weekend celebrating Mexican Independence.

But there are no safe assumptions here, especially after a wildly unpredictable three-plus months since New Year’s Day. Terence Crawford’s intriguing welterweight debut against Jeff Horn was postponed from April 14 to June 9 at Vegas’ MGM Grand because of an injury to his right hand. Welterweight champion Keith Thurman postponed his comeback from elbow surgery, scheduled for May 19, because of an injury to his left hand.

Then, there was Anthony Joshua versus Joseph Parker. Other than another-rock-and-roll like crowd for Joshua at Cardiff, Wales, the fight was a dud. Lots of heavyweight hype produced a lot of ho-hums. Joshua won a decision, his first after winning 20 bouts by stoppage. A conservative Joshua fought mostly not to lose. Perhaps, he was playing possum in anticipation of a showdown with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury. But fan-friendly, it wasn’t. I said it before and I’ll say it again: Andre Ward must be tempted.

For now, the Fight of the Year is featherweight Oscar Valdez Jr.’s epic show of guts in a decision over Scott Quigg on March 10 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It was riveting. It was scary. It was bloody. The drama unfolded on a night when there were more puddles than patrons at StubHub’s open-air arena. It rained, water mixing with the blood that poured from Valdez’ busted jaw. It was a fight that drained everything from Valdez but his courage.

But it also left questions, ones that might have been avoided had Quigg agreed to do a secondary weigh-in on the morning of the bout. He said no after missing the 126-mandatory by 2.8 pounds the day before opening bell. At fight time, Quigg repeatedly outweighed Valdez by nearly seven pounds.

In Quigg’s thudding punches throughout and in Valdez’ battered face after the carnage, however, it looked like a lot more. It might have happened without the reported weight disparity. Valdez takes chances, a risky style that leaves him wide open for damaging shots. A lighter Quigg might have busted up Valdez anyway. But we’ll never know, and those haunting questions will linger as Valdez battles to recover for what figures to be a challenging comeback for a fighter who has been an emerging star.

If anything, the last three-and-half months have been an almost uninterrupted sequence of moments that exemplify just how vulnerable those stars and their plans really are. I’m not sure a hearing can correct any of that. For now, however, it’s about all we’ve got.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Caneo Alavrez has withdrawn from his May 5th rematch with Gennady Golovkin due to circumstances around his failed drug test.

“We’re going to have to cancel the May 5 rematch,” Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez said at the beginning of a news conference at the company’s offices in downtown Los Angeles. “As you all know there is a hearing on April 18 and it’s extremely unlikely this will get properly resolved by then and we need enough time to promote this fight.

“Additionally, given the current regulations in Nevada we have been advised, and it is unfortunate, that Canelo won’t be cleared to fight in May. We are hopeful this matter will be resolved and we are hoping Canelo will be cleared so we can reschedule the fight for August or September.”

“I am truly shocked about what has happened and for those who have doubts and suspicions about my integrity, I have always been and always will be clean fighter,” Alvarez, speaking through a translator, said in his first public comments about the situation other than a brief statement he made two weeks ago when the positive test results were announced.

“I want to apologize to HBO, Tecate and Hennessy and all my other sponsors, the media and to everyone who is involved in the promotion of this event, and especially to the fans. I respect this sport. I will always be a clean fighter.”

“To be honest, what Golovkin or his team say doesn’t bother me at all because, No. 1, they are not doctors, not experts,” Alvarez said. “I don’t pay attention to them. It sounds more like an excuse that he doesn’t want to fight me or he’s scared.”
Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya stood up for his marquee fighter.

“I want to speak to Canelo’s character,” De La Hoya said. “I can assure you that both inside and outside the ring Canelo has always displayed a professionalism and commitment all too absent in the sport. I have known Canelo since he was a teenager and [he has] handled himself with grace and class and showed respect for the sport. He’s the model for what we want the best in our sport to be.

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

“I want to clarify the situation. I have always done tests with VADA before my fights. They are voluntary,” he said. “I have always agreed to them before my fights and they have always come back negative. I am a clean fighter. On this occasion the results showed small traces of clenbuterol. How did this happen, I don’t know. Unfortunately, there is a public problem in my country of Mexico. Football, cycling, soccer, boxing — people have tested positive for clenbuterol. This can be transmitted through meat in Mexico. Contaminated meat is what caused this. That is my statement. This has happened in all sports.”

To hammer home Alvarez’s point about meat contamination, Golden Boy had Dr. Miguel Angel Nazul, the vice president of the Mexican Federation of Sports Medicine, speak at length about the issue in Mexico.

“I respect the Nevada State Athletic Commission and understand there are certain penalties and sanctions even for unintentional [positive] results,” Alvarez said. “The reality is that unfortunately the rematch will have to wait a little longer. I am truly disappointed and upset that I will not be able to take part in the rematch [on May 5]. I was very much looking forward to the fight and looked forward to proving I am the best in the world.

“I am willing to do whatever [the Nevada commission requests to prove I am a clean fighter. I will do everything in my power to prove that I never intentionally ingested clenbuterol. I have nothing to hide. I wanted to be open and transparent in this process. Because of the respect I have for this sport, I will do whatever I can to show I have not taken this and want to prove I am a clean fighter.”

“That is the fight I want and it’s the fight I want to give the fans,” he said. “As soon as I get the green light, that’s the fight I want.”

“I am looking forward to returning to Las Vegas for my 20th title defense and headlining my first Cinco de Mayo event on May 5,” Golovkin said in a statement provided to ESPN. “It is time for less drama and more fighting.”

“It saddens me people are accusing me of doing something improper,” Alvarez said. “I am proud of the career I’ve had. From here on out I will take precautions before future fights and make sure this never again happens. I am ready for what comes in the future.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will fight on May 5th weather it is against Canelo Alvarez or not.

“GGG wants to fight on May 5 in Las Vegas, so in order to do that we have to go through the commission procedure and the official process,” Golovkin Promoter Tom Loeffler told ESPN on Monday.

“Anyone who booked a plane ticket or who was planning to come to Las Vegas for Cinco de Mayo weekend to see GGG fight, don’t cancel your ticket, because we’re planning a GGG fight on May 5, whether it’s against Canelo or somebody else,” Loeffler said.

EDITOR’S PICKS
Candidates to step in to face GGG if Canelo gets longer suspension
There’s a chance the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch won’t happen on May 5 due to Alvarez’s two positive tests. But don’t you worry. Dan Rafael has a list of possible opponents who could step in to face GGG if needed.

Refunds offered for Canelo-GGG rematch
MGM Resorts International is offering ticket buyers a full refund on tickets because of the probability that the fight will be canceled.

“We’re weighing all the options right now,” Loeffler said. “Obviously, the biggest fight in boxing is GGG and Canelo in their rematch in May. If we can’t do it then, GGG wants to stay active, but no one opponent has been selected yet.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Anthony Joshua can strengthen, if not secure, his claim on being the face of a tribal game Saturday against Joseph Parker because of an ongoing mess that leaves a lot of questions about Canelo Alvarez.

Other than mounting controversy, it’s hard to know what’s next for Alvarez, boxing’s pay-per-view leader since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s exit.

Chances that Alvarez’ middleweight rematch against Gennady Golovkin will happen on May 5 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena look increasingly unlikely after the Nevada Athletic Commission filed a formal complaint against him on Thursday for testing positive on February 17 and again on Feb. 20.

The Nevada Commission is expected to rule at a meeting re-scheduled for April 18. It had originally been scheduled for April 10.

The complaint appears to be the first step toward a suspension of Alvarez, who says Clenubuterol was found in his system nearly three weeks after the fight was announced on January 29 because of tainted meat he says he ate while training in Guadalajara.

Even before Thursday’s filing, there were plenty of signs that a suspension looms. HBO pulled its ads for the fight. The MGM Grand said it is offering ticket refunds.

Translation: Fewer and fewer people think the fight will happen, at least not on May 5, an annual Mexican holiday that some fans have now dubbed Cinco de Maybe.

According to the complaint, Alvarez faces a suspension of nine to 24 months. It can be reduced by as much as half if Alvarez is deemed to be cooperative and credible. He is expected to speak to the Commission at the April 18 hearing.

The best guess is that the Commission issues a six-month suspension dating back to the first positive test, Feb. 17.

That would mean Canelo would be eligible to fight on August 18, opening up the possibility that the rematch could move to September 18, two days after Mexico’s Independence Day celebration on Sept. 16.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a controversial draw last Sept. 16, also at T-Mobile. That one begged for a rematch and still does.

All of this is happening just as the unbeaten Joshua, the IBF and WBA champion, gets ready to defend his belt (Showtime 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT) in Cardiff, Wales, against Parker, also unbeaten and a likeable New Zealand heavyweight with the WBO title.

The Cardiff fight at a soccer stadium is expected to draw a crowd of about 80,000. That would mean Joshua has draw 250,000 customers over his last three fights, including a reported 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium for his stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko last April.

Those are numbers that suggest Joshua is already more popular than Canelo.

A sensational performance against Parker would leave little doubt.

Potential erosion in Alvarez’s popularity coincides with UK promoter Eddie Hearn’s plans to introduce Joshua to an American audience, perhaps against Deontay Wilder, who promotes himself better than anybody else has or could.

This week, Wilder has caused a mild storm by refusing to attend Joshua-Parker, apparently because he wouldn’t be allowed to go face-to-face with Joshua after the fight.

Face-to-face, the only Joshua-Wilder meeting that matters is at opening bell. That looks more like a when than an if.

Especially amid a growing flap that leaves fans frustrated and looking for a new, fresh face with a future still untainted by filings, complaints, hearings and possible suspension.

The potential May 5th bout between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is now in serious jeopardy after a hearing for Alvarez positive test for a performance enhancer has been pushed back to April 18 because Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett has filed a formal complaint against Canelo Alvarez for doping violations, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

The complaint, signed Tuesday and made public on Thursday, all but seals the deal that Alvarez’s much-anticipated rematch with unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, scheduled to headline a major HBO PPV event on May 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, will be canceled. It is extremely rare for the commission to issue a complaint against a fighter for doping violations and for the fighter to go unpunished.

“After completing my investigation, I made the determination to file a complaint against Mr. Alvarez and set the matter for a disciplinary hearing during the commission’s regularly scheduled meeting on April 18,” Bennett said.

“We’re waiting for the official decision from the commission, but GGG is training and preparing for May 5 and that’s what he wants to do — fight May 5,” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told ESPN. “Naturally, Canelo is the top priority and if for some reason Canelo is not available, we’ll have to weigh all the options at that point. But as of right now we’re waiting to get more direction from the commission.”

The Middleweight showdown between Daniel Jacobs and Maciej Sulecki at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 28, live on HBO, has been approved as a final eliminator for the WBA World Middleweight title.

Jacobs and Sulecki will battle it out to become mandatory challenger for the May 5 clash between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Jacobs’ old foe ‘GGG’ Gennady Golovkin – raising the stakes for Jacobs’ return to his Brooklyn home.

‘The Miracle Man’ is back at Barclays for the first time since stopping Sergio Mora in September 2016, the fourth defence of the WBA title he won in there in August 2014 – and with today’s news is now in touching distance of challenging to reclaim it.

April 28 is Jacobs’ second fight with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA after outclassing Luis Arias in November at NYCB Live, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and both Jacobs and Hearn are thrilled that the 31 year old will can be in touching distance of his ultimate goal – facing a fellow elite 160-pounder to become World ruler again.

“I’m grateful for the WBA for this opportunity and it gives me even more motivation going into April 28,” said Jacobs. “I feel that I beat GGG in the first fight and everyone knows my plan has always been to fight the winner of the rematch – now is there is no hiding place”

“This is great news for Jacobs and Sulecki and it’s such a huge opportunity,” said Hearn. “When we signed Danny, the aim was always to fight the winner of Canelo v GGG but sometimes in boxing, politics will work against you.

“Sometimes you have to take destiny in your own hands and now we know that victory on April 28 will lead us to the promised land. Danny Jacobs is the best Middleweight in the world and now he can go and prove it.”

Jacobs’ clash with Sulecki is part of a huge night of action in New York where fellow Brooklyn star Jarrell Miller meets Johann Duhaupas in a WBA World Heavyweight title eliminator clash and WBA World Lightweight ruler Katie Taylor aims to unify against IBF champion Victoria Bustos.

Kazakhstan’s 2016 Olympic Gold medallist Daniyar Yeleussinov makes his pro debut on the bill, unbeaten knockout artist Shohjahon Ergashev, a native of Uzbekistan, now fighting out of Brooklyn, NY will face China’s Zhimin Wang, undefeated lightweight prospect Dimash Niyazov will be making his Barclays Center debut in a six-round bout.

Exciting welterweight prospect Julian Sosa, originally from Mexico, now fighting out of Brooklyn, NY, will fight for the fifth time at Barclays Center and native of the boxing rich Clones, Ireland, Larry Fryers, is coming off an outstanding 2017 campaign which saw him post five big wins from California to New York.

Tickets to the event start at $42 and are on sale NOW. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or call 800-745-3000. Tickets for the event can also be purchased at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning Saturday, February 24 at noon. For information on group sales, call 844.255.9647.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, MGM Resorts are giving refunds to the Canelo Alvarez – Gennady Golovkin bout, thus adding speculation that the bout could be cancelled due to Alvarez testing positive to a performance enhancer.

“Business as usual in training camp,” Golden Boy posted along with the video. “Canelo working the heavy bag under the watchful eye of (trainer Eddy Reynoso).”

“If a fan requests a refund for the Canelo-GGG 2 fight they may receive one, in full, at the original point of purchase,” an MGM Resorts International spokesman told ESPN in an email on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia, PA /White Plains, NY (March 26, 2018) — Undefeated, two-time world champion Demetrius Andrade (25-0, 16 KOs) is ready and available for a showdown with unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, should Canelo Alvarez not be cleared by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on April 10th for his May 5th rematch with Golovkin.

Andrade, who is ranked number 1 by the WBO in the middleweight division, feels that if Alvarez is not cleared by the commission for his recent positive test for Clenbuterol, he would be the most obvious candidate to face Golovkin.

“I am ready, willing and able to step to the plate on May 5th to fight Golovkin,” stated Andrade. “I am always in the gym, and I will start VADA testing right now. I guarantee that I will pass all the tests. I know other fighters can’t say the same thing. I am undefeated, and a two-time world champion. Golovkin went through a period where nobody wanted to fight him. I am that guy now. The man nobody wants to fight. Everyone says what does Demetrius Andrade bring to the table? Besides being the best American middleweight, and one of the top 3 middleweights in the world, everyone knows who I am, and the know how good I am. My question is to those who say that I don’t bring anything to the table. What did Murray, Adama, Geale, Monroe and Rosado bring to the table? None of the top contenders want to fight me so I believe that if Canelo is unavailable for May 5th, I want the opportunity to face Golovkin for the unified middleweight championship of the world.”

Golovkin’s Promoter Tom Loeffler stated after Alvarez was temporarily suspended that his fighter will still compete on May 5th with or without Alvarez.

“Whatever the commission does, Gennady would still fight May 5th if Canelo is out,” he said. “If for some reason it’s not against Canelo, we’ll figure out the best course of action at that time, but he is training to fight May 5th.”, Loeffler told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com

Like Golovkin, Andrade is also in the gym, and will be ready should he get the call for May 5th.

Andrade is promoted by Banner Promotions and Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check Banner Promotions Facebook Page , and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @BannerBoxing

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According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The Nevada Commisiion has temporarily suspended Canelo Alvarez, thus putting his May 5th rematch with Canelo Alvarez in Jeopardy pending a hearing on April 10th.

Alvarez will be required to appear at a commission hearing — either in person or via telephone — on the issue April 10, less than a month before he is to challenge Golovkin in a heavily anticipated rematch of their controversial draw at the same venue in September. ?The commission will decide at the hearing whether the fight will go ahead as scheduled.

“Mr. Alvarez is temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his adverse analytical findings, that being clenbuterol, on Feb. 17 and 20,” Nevada Commission Exexutive Director Bob Bennett said in a statement. “A commission hearing is scheduled for April 10, 2018, to hear from Mr. Alvarez.”

“We respect the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s process and will vigorously present Canelo’s case throughout,” Golden Boy Promotions spokesman Stefan Friedman said in a statement to ESPN. “Over his career, Canelo has tested clean more than 90 times and would never intentionally take a banned substance.”

“Again with Mexican meat? Come on,” Golovkin said Tuesday. “I told you, it’s not Mexican meat. This is Canelo. This is his team. This is his promotion. Canelo is cheating. They’re using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it’s not happening.

“This guy, he knows. This is not his first day in boxing. He proves he gets benefits from everyone and he can get away with it. Check him on a lie detector, and then we can find out everything.”

Speaking by phone to ESPN later Tuesday, Golovkin added, “I think it is silly to blame the meat because an athlete at this level should not be caught on the meat. I eat Mexican food all the time, and I’ve never had that problem.”

“GGG is in full training-camp mode right now, and he wants to fight May 5 regardless of what happens,” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told ESPN on Friday night. “The commission did issue the temporary suspension for Canelo, but everything is subject to what happens April 10 at their hearing. On the GGG side, he’s fired up. He’s on edge for this fight. This fight was really getting red-hot and nearing being sold out after this week. On the GGG side, whenever he can get Canelo in the rematch, he’ll fight him. Gennady felt he was wronged [by the decision] the first time. That’s where some of those comments came out in the heat of the training camp this week. As soon as he can get him back in the ring, whether it’s on May 5 or on a future date, he’ll do his best to knock out Canelo. The respect he had for him in the first fight is out the window after this. All the pleasantries are out the window.”

“We definitely respect the commission for their thorough investigation. I have to commend them for what they’re doing,” Loeffler said. “Canelo has cooperated with them from [what] they’ve said, and they’ve subjected him to numerous tests since the failed tests. Whatever the commission does, Gennady would still fight May 5 if Canelo is out.

“If for some reason it’s not against Canelo, we’ll figure out the best course of action at that time, but he is training to fight May 5. We’d look at [middleweight titlist] Billy Joe Saunders or anyone else who makes sense. Hopefully, it’s Canelo. If not, we will weigh the options and meet with HBO and the people from the MGM [owner of T-Mobile Arena].”

Las Vegas (March 9, 2018) – Former Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik has confirmed that he and “The Punch Line” Podcast team will appear at the “Ring Life” booth to Meet & Greet his fans at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the fourth edition of Box Fan Expo that will take place Saturday May 5, 2018 from 10a.m to 5pm, during Cinco De Mayo weekend. The Boxing Expo will also coincide with the mega fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, that will take place later that evening.

Pavlik will appear for the first time at this years’ Expo. Kelly and “The Punch Line” team will have merchandise to sell to his fans, as well as photos and memorabilia. They will also promote their New Show from the Boxing Expo.

Kelly Pavlik Known as “The Ghost”, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. Pavlik grew up on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio. He won the unified WBC, WBO, Ring magazine and lineal middleweight titles by defeating Jermain Taylor in 2007, which was also named Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Pavlik made three successful defenses before losing them to Sergio Martínez in 2010. On January 19, 2013 Kelly Pavlik announced his retirement from boxing.

Today Pavlik is the host of the Podcast Boxing show “The Punch Line” http://punchline.live/ with his co-host James Dominguez.

Box Fan Expo has been a huge success with fans and boxing industry people. Many boxing stars have attended the last two Expo’s such as Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera, Roy Jones Jr., Marcos Maidana, Sergio Martinez, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Tim Bradley, Deontay Wilder, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, Fernando Vargas, Zab Judah, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Mikey Garcia , Mia St.Johns, Leo Santa Cruz, Badou Jack, Terry Norris , Riddick Bowe , Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, Danny Jacobs, Abner Mares, Jorge Linares, Brandon Rios and many more…

Exhibitors such as boxing gear, apparel, new equipments, energy drinks, alcohol, supplement products, broadcasting media, sanctioning bodies and other companies who wish to participate will once again have a chance to showcase their brand to fans, media and the boxing industry.

Tickets to the Box Fan Expo are available online at:
http://www.boxfanexpo.eventbrite.com

Box Fan Expo is the ultimate boxing fan experience event, which allows fans to Meet and Greet Boxing Superstars of today, current and former world champions, Legends of the sport and other boxing Celebrities at their booth. On Site, fans will experience different activities from Autograph Sessions, Photo Sessions, FaceOff with your favorite boxers, as well as a chance to purchase merchandise and memorabilia from their booth, plus so much more… you won’t want to miss this must-attend Expo!

Box Fan Expo will also feature top boxing organizations, promoters, ring card girls, famous trainers and commentators as well as boxing gear companies “ALL UNDER ONE ROOF”.

Throughout the next couple of months leading up to the Event, there will be weekly updates on the many stars that will commit their appearance at the Boxing Expo. And for anyone in the Boxing industry or other Exhibitors (non-industry), who would like to be involved and reserve a Booth, contact Box Fan Expo:

Telephone number: (514) 572-7222 or Las Vegas Number (702) 997-1927

For any inquiries please email: boxfanexpo@gmail.com

More information on the Box Fan Expo is available at: http://www.boxfanexpo.com

You can follow Box Fan Expo on Twitter at: https://www.twitter.com/BoxFanExpo

and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/BoxFanExpo

LOS ANGELES (March 5, 2018): As part of the voluntary testing program that Canelo Alvarez insisted on ahead of his May 5 fight, one of his results came back positive for trace levels of Clenbuterol, consistent with meat contamination that has impacted dozens of athletes in Mexico over the last years.

As Daniel Eichner, Director of SMRTL, the WADA-accredited lab that conducted the tests stated in his letter today, “These values are all within the range of what is expected from meat contamination.”

Upon receiving this information, Golden Boy immediately notified the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Gennady Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler.

As has been planned, Canelo will immediately move his training camp from Mexico to the United States and will submit to any number and variety of additional tests that VADA deems necessary ahead of and after May 5.

Added Canelo: “I am an athlete who respects the sport and this surprises me and bothers me because it had never happened to me. I will submit to all the tests that require me to clarify this embarrassing situation and I trust that at the end the truth will prevail.”

Canelo has tested clean dozens of times over the course of his previous 12 fights.

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 22, 2018): Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) hosted a blockbuster fan event today at Microsoft Square at L.A. LIVE to formally announce their historic, highly anticipated 12-round rematch at T-Mobile Arena on Cinco de Mayo and presented live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at a special time of 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

The world champions and their teams discussed the historic rematch following last September’s controversial draw with both fighters contending they will not allow the rematch to go to the judges’ scorecards.

Here’s what today’s participants had to say at the event:

CANELO ALVAREZ, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight Champion:

“I’ve seen the first fight. I know the changes I must make. That’s going to be the key to victory. It’s about adding more things to the preparation. We’re going to add to the arsenal and add more conditioning, punches and aggression. I need to add more punches and aggression for the victory to be clear. The best way to win this fight is by knockout. It’s not easy, but I can do it.”

GENNADY GOLOVKIN, WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO Middleweight Champion:

“I’ve done my homework. I know what I need to do to win this fight. This fight will be even bigger. After the first fight, I felt good. I felt I won the fight and I was comfortable. I’ve had a lot of time to rest. This fight will be different. I don’t make predictions, but I know I will give a big show.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions:

“I would have really wished for a rematch against Felix Trinidad. I would have loved to have knocked him out in the last three rounds instead of boxing. We don’t always get rematches of this magnitude, so that’s why this fight is special. On May 5, we will get an explosive rematch, and I believe Canelo will knock him out!”

TOM LOEFFLER, Promoter of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin:

“Because of the first fight, both guys are at another level. That was a mega fight that delivered in the ring. However, Canelo seems to be getting at least one scorecard in the big fights. Maybe it’s the red hair, but he’s doing something to impress the judges. That’s why Gennady [Golovkin] and Abel Sanchez will make sure that the victory is clearer in the next fight. We believe GGG won the first fight. He’s going to turn up the pressure. Dr. Abel Sanchez is going to turn up the pressure, and we’ll see you Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas.”

EDDY REYNOSO, Head Trainer of Canelo Alvarez:

“We don’t have to change anything. We’re going to prepare very well as we always do. We have a smart, defensive fighter, so we must throw more punches and be more aggressive. We’re going to make some small changes so that the training camp isn’t so monotonous, but we’re confident in our preparation and our fighter.”

JOSE “CHEPO” REYNOSO, Manager and Trainer of Canelo Alvarez:

“I’m happy the way Canelo fought in the first fight against Golovkin. But I’ll be even happier in the second fight because he’ll be able to fight differently. Golovkin will come forward and do the same thing, but Canelo has more things to show. He’ll also be better accommodated to 160 pounds since the last fight was his first at 160. This time we’ll look for the knockout.”
ABEL SANCHEZ, Head Trainer of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin:

“I hope Canelo [Alvarez] was able to see a transmission specialist for the rematch because in the first fight he was stuck in reverse. All I know is that after the first fight the fans were not booing Gennady Golovkin. The rematch took long to make because Canelo takes long to heal and had long memories of the first fight.”

Canelo vs. GGG 2 is a 12-round fight for the middleweight championship of the world presented by Golden Boy Promotions and GGG Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle,” Fred Loya Insurance and Fathom Events. The event will take place Saturday, May 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets for Canelo vs. GGG 2 are on sale and are priced at $5,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, $800, $700, $500 and $300, not including applicable service charges and taxes. There will be a limit of 10 per person at the $5,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, $800 and $700 price levels with a limit of two (2) per person at the $500 and $300 price levels. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849). Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.t-mobilearena.com or www.axs.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com,
www.caneloggg.comand www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing and @TomLoeffler1; become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, ‘
www.facebook.com/gggboxing, and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; and follow the conversation using #CaneloGGG2.

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