ARLINGTON, Texas – Billy Joe Saunders taunted Canelo Alvarez as they stood face to face for a photo shoot Wednesday.

The antagonistic Englishman repeatedly asked Alvarez if he loves “the Mexican beef,” a reference to the Mexican champion’s clenbuterol ordeal in 2018. Alvarez understood what Saunders said, but he just shook his head, smiled and reminded Saunders what awaits him Saturday night in their 12-round, 168-pound title unification fight at AT&T Stadium.

Alvarez offered a reminder of his opponent’s own history with performance-enhancing drugs when asked Thursday about Saunders’ attempt to get under his skin the previous afternoon.

“He’s the last person to be talking about doping,” Alvarez told a small group of reporters following their press conference at Live! by Loews, a hotel near AT&T Stadium. “We know that he’s had problems with that in the past. We all know about the meat. We know what happened, and he’s the last person to speak on that.”

The 30-year-old Alvarez has consistently contended that eating contaminated meat in his home country caused him to test positive for clenbuterol twice in February 2018.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Alvarez retroactively for six months after he failed those two tests administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. The superstar’s suspension caused a four-month postponement of his middleweight championship rematch against Gennadiy Golovkin.

Alvarez eventually defeated Kazakhstan’s Golovkin by majority decision in their 12-round rematch in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Saunders endured his own PED predicament soon after Alvarez beat Golovkin in their second fight.

The Massachusetts State Athletic Commission refused to license Saunders for his middleweight title fight against Demetrius Andrade, which was scheduled for October 2018 at TD Garden in Boston, because Saunders tested positive for oxilofrine, a banned stimulant according to VADA.

Saunders subsequently gave up his WBO middleweight title, which Andrade won by beating Saunders’ replacement, Walter Kautondokwa, by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for the vacant championship.

Frank Warren, then Saunders’ promoter, claimed that a nasal spray Saunders used caused him to test positive for oxilofrine late in August 2018.

Oxilofrine is on VADA’s list of banned substances 365 days per year, but the World Anti-Doping Agency and UK Anti-Doping only prohibit it on the day of a fight. Therefore, Saunders was not disciplined by UK Anti-Doping, which subjects all British boxers to drug testing 365 days per year for the British Boxing Board of Control.

The 31-year-old Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) later moved up to the 168-pound division and won the WBO super middleweight championship, which he’ll defend against Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs). Alvarez owns the WBA and WBC 168-pound crowns.

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