As the middleweight championship rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin remains in serious jeopardy, we learned of some more potentially bad news on Thursday. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has filed a formal complaint against Alvarez in his doping case. Along with the complaint, a disciplinary hearing has been scheduled for April 18 to determine the fate of the May 5 rematch currently set to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In addition to the complaint being filed, a preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday, March 30, has been canceled.
Bob Bennett, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, released the following statement:
"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 18th," Bennett's said. "Therefore, I am canceling the hearing that was scheduled for Friday, March 30th."
Alvarez is currently serving a temporary suspension due to two failed tests for the banned substance Clenbuterol. Initially, Alvarez and his camp blamed the failed tests on tainted meat the fighter had consumed in Mexico, and he relocated his fight camp to Las Vegas. However, despite the tainted meat claim, Bennett also pointed out that no matter the circumstances surrounding the failures, they still constitute an anti-doping violation.
From NSAC complaint re @Canelo: "Alvarez’s utilization, ingestion and/or consumption of Clenbuterol, whether intentional or not, constitutes an anti-doping violation."
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) March 29, 2018
As Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports points out, Alvarez is not permitted to fight anywhere in the United States until there is a resolution to this hearing.
The first bout between these two power punchers ended in a controversial draw last September in Las Vegas, leaving fight fans itching for a rematch. Now, though, it may be time to increase the concern that the rematch ultimately won't happen -- at least in the near future.