Alvarez, Ogawa banned for six months for failed drug tests

LAS VEGAS, Nevada: Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa have been suspended for six months following hearings with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) after both boxers failed recent doping tests.

Alvarez was temporarily suspended by the NSAC after testing positive for banned substance clenbuterol in February and withdrew from his rematch against world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, which was scheduled for May 5.

In the settlement statement, the NSAC said the former two-weight world champion had co-operated with the investigation and thus his ban had been backdated to the first time he tested positive, meaning he can return to the ring from Aug. 17.

“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,” Alvarez’s promoters Golden Boy Promotions said in a statement.

“He is ready to continue his remarkable record of fighting at the highest level,” it added of the 27-year-old who has a 49-1-2 record.According to an ESPN report, the NSAC stripped Ogawa of his IBF super-featherweight title.