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Canelo Alvarez clenbuterol suspension: Why bother fighting in Nevada?
By Zach Arnold | April 3, 2018

The fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will be pushed back a few months due to Alvarez testing positive (twice) for clenbuterol.
The best MMA writer today, Iain Kidd, has a simple & accurate Bloody Elbow read on what likely went down.
The re-match will happen in a few months. The media and Golovkin’s team will take their doping shots at Canelo to juice up interest. Always happens in these kinds of scenarios. The fighters and promoters will still make their money.
However, there are bigger questions to be asked now because of Nevada’s actions to suspend Canelo Alvarez.
Why bother fighting in Nevada?
This is the big question now. If you’re a top fighter, why do you need to fight for a WBC belt if the WBC is going to require you to go through third-party supplemental drug testing that the Nevada State Athletic Commission treats differently than by WADA/USADA standards for punishment?
Nevada’s commission made it clear to third party drug testing operations to work with them and to go by certain guidelines. If this is Nevada’s long-term policy, then the results of those tests must be treated exactly as they would be on a global stage.
Erik Magraken neatly explains Nevada’s legal policy on mitigating circumstances regarding ingestion of contaminated products.
The end result of the Canelo Alvarez incident is the formulation of Nevada administrative case law where a positive test for clenbuterol is being adjudicated differently by a state athletic commission than it would be by an actual testing agency.
The tax breaks aren’t worth Nevada’s administrative headaches
You can fight in Texas or Florida and not pay state income tax. Television taxes are also relatively competitive.
Fights featuring the level of boxers like Gennady Golovkin do not require casinos to prop up for interest. You don’t need to rely on sold shows.
Why are we stuck on Las Vegas? You can make your money elsewhere without as much interference, inconsistency, or incompetence. You can still do VADA testing as well.
Nevada doesn’t have the prestige that it once had. Motives are constantly questioned. The state’s athletic commission is no longer attached to general funding. How is it any different than other garden variety administrative agencies? The power of the purse gives promoters much better options inside and outside of America to produce fights. Better deals are to be made outside of Nevada in 2018.
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Why only on avearage one post per month? I visit your site every day hoping for a new article, but am found wanting almost every day. What is the scoop on the new UFC tv deal?
I to would like to see more posts Zach.
Maybe its too hard to write positive articles about ufc when they constantly shit the bed.
Well I certainly can’t wait to see Zach’s thoughts on McGregor’s actions today!