What Is Clenbuterol and What Does It Do? – A Closer Look at Canelo Alvarez’s FAILED DRUG TEST!
By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
It wasn’t long ago that Oscar De La Hoya was the “Golden Boy” of boxing, now in the world of promoting fighters, he has passed the mantle on to another Mexican fighter, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Canelo is arguably the biggest draw in boxing today and the face of boxing. An extremely gifted boxer who has been boxing for what seems like his whole life, Canelo has everything it takes to become a superstar and one of Mexico’s greatest ever boxers.
So, when a boxer of his stature fails a drug test, the age old question of drugs in the sport of boxing will inevitably raise its ugly head. More so in the game of pain, in a sport where people can be seriously hurt, if an athlete is found to be using drugs then there will be some very stern questions raised. This isn’t the NFL or NBA where an athlete may take drugs to run faster or jump higher, this is a sport where the use of drugs could mean more help inflicting pain to another person.
The good news is that Canelo has only recently passed two more drug tests since his failed tests last month, but whether this was because of tainted meat in his homeland or a case of bad timing, we will never know.
Just what is Clenbuterol and what does it do? Clenbuterol is used to treat breathing disorders such as asthma by relaxing the airways, helping one to breathe easier and therefore increasing their stamina. For an athlete across a number of sports, having increased stamina is a huge advantage, especially in a sport such as boxing where fitness is so vital. If you’re tired in a fight your technique goes down the drain and a tired fighter no matter how good, will get beaten by the fitter fighter. Knockouts occur not just because of a hit but because the fighter is just too tired to defend himself and stay standing.
Clenbuterol’s most noticeable benefit though is its ability to burn body fat at an increased rate due to an elevated metabolic rate – and it does all of this whilst sparing your hard earned muscle tissue. This made it especially appealing to bodybuilders who were preparing for competitions, having to diet and strip away any excess fat would also mean much muscle would disappear and all those hours you’ve spent in the gym building size would be compromised. It quickly became a favourite amongst bodybuilding circles and eventually news spread into the celebrity and sporting worlds, numerous athletes have been caught taking clenbuterol and it was also known as ‘Hollywood’s dirty diet secret’ as a host of actors, actresses and pop stars were linked to taking the drug and using it to get into shape for movie roles or music videos and tours.
How does all of this apply to boxing? Firstly, I am in no way accusing Canelo or taking the drug intentionally, that is something we will never know but I will take a look at the reasons why it may have been taken.
Canelo is a great boxer, but one of the weaknesses critics alluded to was his stamina, often taking rounds off, laying on the ropes to recover and fighting only in short bursts. A drug like clenbuterol would surely help alleviate these concerns, allowing a boxer to fight longer, harder and recover quicker at the same time. Fighting in those championship rounds would certainly be a little easier if you have been taking CLEN.
Secondly, the ability to move up and down in weight. By stripping away fat whilst maintaining muscle you are much easier able to move between weights. Boxers such as Kell Brook used to fight at welterweight, he then moved up to middleweight to fight Golovkin before having to move back down in weight to fight Errol Spence, JR. Brook had a torrid time making weight and was quick to move to light middleweight after suffering another loss, fading down the stretch in the fight was a tell tale sign you had difficulty making weight. Yet Canelo can fight Amir Khan, Liam Smith, Julio Cesar Chavez, JR. and Gennady Golovkin all at different weights and show no negative effects from making weight from moving up and down in weight. Also, by holding onto the muscle, it means after the weigh in, you can very easily add on a lot of weight as the muscles and body rehydrates, a bigger muscle will draw in more fuel and end up in more weight.
Another cause for concern was the failed test was announced by Canelo’s promoters, Golden Boy, rather than the boxing council or drug testing agency – this looks like collusion because the result was obviously known well before it was released. The excuse of moving the camp to America sounds like a move to trick the masses because Canelo was supposed to be training in the high altitudes of America to help improve his stamina.
A problem with drugs in boxing is that boxers are often only tested in camps, what this means is a boxer can cycle drugs and by the time camp comes round and testing will begin, the drugs will not show up in the testing. With Canelo now being signed up to year round testing with the WBC does this smell of CLEN cycling gone wrong? The drug has a very short half life and is out of your system within days, a common cycling method in bodybuilding circles to lose weight was 2 weeks on clen followed by 2 weeks off to clear it out of the system and then to resume again.
There is also the knowledge that meat in Mexico is contaminated, the NFL has previously warned its players of consuming meat from Mexico for this very reason. Hundreds of footballers over the years have failed drug tests for clenbuterol in Mexico, most notably in the u17 FIFA youth World Cup in 2011. Not to mention all time great Boxers such as Erik Morales, with this knowledge, why would any high profile athlete consume the meat?
Inevitably people will begin to question Canelo’s past and ask whether he was using Clenbuterol for those fights too, which is a shame because it is clear to see Canelo is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world with an abundance of skill and talent but will this tarnish the legacy of Canelo and will the public ever forget? Only the future will answer whether we will know him as Canelo or ‘Clenelo’….
Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
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The Boxing Cheat Sheet – Your Ultimate Guide to Ring Survival
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