By Keith Idec

Paulie Malignaggi wasn’t the least bit surprised when he learned earlier this month that Canelo Alvarez tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Frankly, Malignaggi can’t believe anyone would’ve been surprised. The outspoken former two-division champion and Showtime analyst thinks every boxing fan and reporter should’ve suspected the Mexican superstar was “dirty” before he twice tested positive for clenbuterol late in February.

Alvarez contends contaminated meat in Mexico is to blame for that banned substance turning up in his system and can’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to move forward with his middleweight championship rematch against Gennady Golovkin on May 5. Malignaggi isn’t buying Alvarez’s excuse.

“There’s a lot of things I don’t say anymore in boxing, OK?,” Malignaggi told EsNews for an interview posted recently on YouTube. “There’s a lot of sh*t going on in boxing. If it took a failed drug test for you to actually think that Canelo was just starting to be dirty, watch bowling, bro. Don’t even watching boxing anymore. If it took that failed drug test for you to realize Canelo was on something, that’s like thinking Lance Armstrong was clean, just because nobody had caught him back when he was winning 17 Tour de Frances and going in the Alps and flying, when everybody else was slowing down.

“If you’re that stupid, that’s like thinking [Mark] McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa were clean when they were running through those home runs, even though before they came out, they got caught. If you need a failed drug test to realize some guys are cheating, you are a f***ing moron, and you should knit for a living, instead of watching sports for a living. Thank you. I’m staying off that, because every time I say something like this it creates a big to-do and whatnot. I’m done with this conversation.”

Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) has been highly critical of Alvarez since those test results were made public March 5.

Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) reportedly has passed several tests administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association since testing positive last month. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has temporarily suspended Alvarez and will determine during its April 10 meeting in Las Vegas whether to allow the Alvarez-Golovkin rematch to take place.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.