Boxing: Alvarez, Ogawa banned for six months for failed drug tests

[April 19, 2018]  (Reuters) - 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, which he won by beating American Tevin Farmer on Dec. 9, after the 30-year-old's pre-fight tests were positive for two forms of androstanediol.

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez during the press conference Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Couldridge Livepic

Teiken Gym, where Ogawa (23-1) trains, said on Thursday that the NSAC had also invalidated the fight and fined the boxer 20 percent of his prize purse.

Ogawa's suspension has also been backdated to the first time he tested positive and his ban will be lifted on June 9.

(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru)

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