Alycia Baumgardner found "not guilty" in PED investigation, retains belts but put on probation

Alycia Baumgardner, the undisputed junior lightweight champion, was found to have tested positive for a prohibited substance on Aug. 16, 2023, following her unanimous 12-round victory over Christina Linardatou one month prior.

Baumgardner recently released a statement in which she said her prefight ''A'' sample tested positive for mesterolone and methenolone acetate metabolites three days before her fight against Linardatou, but her post-fight test on July 15 and another test on July 16 both came back clean.

In a message shared on social media, Baumgardner denied taking any banned substance, stating:

''On August 12, 2023, I was informed that an "A Sample" I provided on July 12, 2023 resulted in an "Adverse Analytical Finding" of mesterolone and methenolone acetate metabolites, two substances I've never heard of or used in any way."

Baumgardner continued:

''The sample provided immediately after my fight on July 15, 2023 tested clean and negative for all banned substances, as did my sample on June 16, 2023, which makes the July 12th result essentially impossible. To be abundantly clear, I know that I never have, never would, and never will take this or any other drug. Not only would doing so be unethical, but it would also be completely contrary to how I've trained my entire career."

Check out Alycia Baumgardner's full statement below:

Notably, in October, 'The Bomb' submitted samples to Cansford Laboratories, a non-world anti-doping agency lab in Cardiff, Wales, for hair follicle testing, which came back negative for 17 prohibited substances.

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WBC puts Alycia Baumgardner on one year of probation after she's found not guilty

Following an 18-month investigation, the World Boxing Council (WBC) declared that Alycia Baumgardner had not purposefully consumed the banned substance. Baumgardner will retain her WBC super featherweight title, but she will be subjected to random anti-doping tests, which will be at her own expense.

According to the statement by the WBC:

''There was no conclusive justification to reject the accuracy of the adverse finding, but evidence and arguments do not conclusively support Baumgardner's intentional ingestion of Mestorolone for performance enhancement purposes.''

The WBC further added:

''The WBC is ruling that the accuracy and validity of the adverse finding justifies placing Ms. Baumgardner on probation for one year from the date the sample that yielded the adverse finding was collected, or until July 12, 2024. Ms. Baumgardner shall be subjected to a series of random anti-doping tests at her own cost, whose frequency shall be determined by VADA. The WBC and Ms. Baumgardner will work together to design and inplement her participation in an anti-doping prevention program directed to active female boxers.''

Check out the WBC's full statement below: