By Ludo Saenz L. Luaces, notifight.com
Greg Cohen, the promoter of "regular" World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight champion Austin Trout, is hitting back at Jose Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), for his public refusal to sanction a unification with WBC champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on September 15th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At a press conference in Mexico, Sulaiman said a unification with the WBA would cause his organization to lose "authority and exclusivity."
Sulaiman went further, stating that if Canelo accepts a fight with Trout, the Mexican star would be in danger of losing his title and a letter would go out to the WBA "to tell them Trout tested positive in a fight in San Luis Potosi."
The WBC president is referring to Trout's twelve round decision win over David Lopez, which took place on June 11th, 2011. After the fight, Trout reportedly tested positive for marijuana. Soon after, Trout was tested by an independent lab in New Mexico and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. There were all sort of issues with the orginal test, as Trout explained during an interview with BoxingScene.com a year ago.
"If you look at the date of the positive test that was posted, it read that the test was taken on June 13. But that was two days after we had fought and two days after I had actually taken the original test. And also, remember, there were no signatures on the test that I took. But the one that they posted -- which I had never seen before -- had my name typed in obviously with no signature," Trout said.
Trout's promoter is shocked with the WBC's position on the matter.
"I have great respect for Mr. Jose Sulaiman and the WBC, but I think they are misinformed. I feel it is irresponsible to bring this to light, a year later, when Austin has not done anything wrong," Cohen said.
"After Austin Trout beat David Lopez in June 2011, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, we conducted a test, which [indicated the original test] result was a false positive. When Trout underwent a successful test in a laboratory in New Mexico, approved by the Boxing Commission of New Mexico, the results were negative. I think the authorities that administered the test on Trout in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, were crooked and must be punished. "
"This is old news and I do not understand why this is being taked about now. Any notice, accusing Austin Trout, is completely defamatory. The World Boxing Association was fully aware of this whole process and proclaimed, in accordance, that Austin Trout was clean and has never had illegal substances in his body."
"We've had discussions with the team of Canelo. Austin Trout would love to make a unification fight with "Canelo" Alvarez on September 15th at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada."
