Faced with a new series of criticisms and suspicions against him for the apparent doping of a boxer with whom he is linked, Eddy Reynoso decided it was necessary to defend himself and he did so this Thursday.

Reynoso, the boxing trainer who for a decade has achieved international recognition for being the trainer and guide of Canelo Avarez, published a message - in English and Spanish - in which he distances himself from any relationship with the alleged positive of boxer Francisco Chihuas Rodriguez Jr.

The Mexican Rodriguez Jr. won the interim World Boxing Council flyweight championship on June 21 by defeating the British Galal Yafai with a prodigious performance in England. However, on Wednesday, promoter Matchroom Boxing said in a brief statement that the Monterrey native fighter had an “adverse analytical finding” in his anti-doping test conducted at the end of the fight in Birmingham.

“First and foremost, I am not Francisco’s trainer or manager, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in person just yesterday,” Eddy Reynoso said in his written statement, in which he explained that his relationship with Rodriguez Jr. has nothing to do with gym work.

“The support given to him was so that through the promotion and sponsorship of the No Boxing No Life brand, he could arrange three fights with the Clase y Talento company to try to support him in achieving a championship,” Reynoso said, without giving details about the promotional arrangement.

“Chihuas” Rodriguez thanked Eddy Reynoso with a visit

The case of Chihuas Rodriguez, a former world light flyweight champion, is under investigation by British boxing authorities and the WBC. The man, who turned 32 on Wednesday, had met with Reynoso just this week as a way of thanking him, as seen in a social media post. Eddy Reynoso @caneloteam thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to believe in myself when no one else did,” Rodriguez wrote alongside a photo in which they are seen together with the belt won by the Monterrey native.

But just one day after showing enormous happiness and enthusiasm for what was happening to him in boxing, Rodriguez learned of the alleged doping, to which he reacted with annoyance.

“What a way to try to discredit my work. Positive for what?” asked the Mexican fighter in another Instagram post. “They did three doping tests on me a month and a half before. They went to my house, why have I never tested positive in the previous tests?

Reynoso considers it unfair that he is linked only because of a photo

Reynoso expressed support for the fighter and hoped that he could clarify his situation favorably, but stated: “I had no participation of any kind in that fight, nor was I present, therefore I will not make any statements in this regard.”

The man to whom Canelo Álvarez credits more than anyone for his successes said that a photo with Francisco Rodríguez Jr. cannot be a reason to question him.

“I have dedicated almost my entire life to boxing because it is my passion and reason for being, everything I have achieved has been based on sacrifice, discipline and dedication,” Reynoso said in his statement. “I consider it unfair that because I appear in a photo supporting the young man, they want to hold me responsible for situations unrelated to my work.”

The trainer says he has no to do with his fighters nutrition

Canelo Alvarez's trainer was the subject of questioning after Jamie Munguia, whom he trains, tested positive in May. At the time, Reynoso explained that he is in charge of his fighters' preparation and technique, but not their nutrition.

There were other boxers with whom Reynoso crossed paths who failed anti-doping tests. Alvarez himself failed a test years ago in a stumble that the Guadalajara native attributed to contaminated meat he consumed in Mexico.

Reynoso maintains his innocence regarding all of these adverse doping cases:

“In my position as a trainer or manager, I have nothing to do with my fighters' nutritional plans. I don't cook for the fighters, I don't buy their food, I don't give them supplements, I don't recommend supplements, and, of course, I don't give them prohibited substances. I support drug testing and clean boxing, and I expect everyone I work with to share those same values.”