A trainer now working with Canelo Álvarez ahead of his blockbuster clash with Terence Crawford previously advertised performance-enhancing drugs, including human growth hormone, on social media. The revelations have reignited concerns about doping controversies surrounding Álvarez’s camp.
Rulas Arreola, also known as Raul Arreola Dosal, has travelled with Álvarez to Las Vegas for Saturday’s highly anticipated bout billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event. A former bodybuilder, Arreola runs Radical Nutrition in Guadalajara, offering fitness and nutrition plans. He has had two stints with Álvarez’s team—first from 2017 to 2018, and again since spring 2023.
Between 2016 and early 2017, before joining Álvarez, Arreola used his personal and business Facebook pages to advertise peptides and human growth hormone products. Among them were ipamorelin, a growth hormone–releasing peptide, and HGH Fragment 176-191. He also promoted Xerendip, a Mexican brand of synthetic human growth hormone known to be used illicitly by athletes. His posts were available until this month, when they were deleted.
Arreola insists that he never sold or recommended banned substances to professional athletes. He maintains that his former business catered only to the general public and that he closed that side of operations when he began working with Álvarez to avoid potential controversy.
The issue comes at a sensitive time for Álvarez, whose camp has previously faced multiple doping scandals. In 2018, Álvarez tested positive for clenbuterol, resulting in a six-month suspension that was attributed to contaminated meat. Other fighters from his team have also failed tests, including Julio Cesar Martínez, Óscar Valdez, and Jaime Munguía, though each case was later attributed to contamination or unintentional use.
Álvarez’s head coach, Eddy Reynoso, has denied any involvement in doping but has admitted that the controversies have pushed him to tighten control over nutrition in the camp. He has pledged to work more closely with anti-doping bodies to prevent further incidents.
As Álvarez prepares to defend his titles against Crawford in a bout streamed globally, scrutiny over doping in boxing has intensified. Critics argue that trainers’ past involvement with banned substances raises serious questions, even if no wrongdoing is proven in the present.
Despite past controversies, Álvarez continues to maintain his stance as a clean fighter, stating that he has never intentionally used banned substances and remains committed to fair competition.
