By Jake Tiernan: Female undisputed super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KO) has reportedly returned an adverse finding for the banned substance Mesterolonee from before her successful title defense against Christina Linardatou (14-3, 6 KOs) last month on July 15th at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotional company has acknowledged the positive test from the 29-year-old Baumgardner, stating that they found out about it on August 12th.
The positive test could mean that the results of Baumgardner’s win over the dynamo Linardatou could be changed to a no-contest. It was scored wide for Baumgardner 100-90, 98-92, and 97-93. The fight looked closer, with Linardatou appearing to edge it.
There’s no word if Baumgardner will be suspended, stripped of her four titles, or if a rematch with Linadatou will be ordered. It would be interesting to know if Linardatou would even want a rematch after this revelation bout Baumgardner’s positive test.
ℹ️ Official statement on Alycia Baumgardner pic.twitter.com/j7WAxZyZRi
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) August 16, 2023
Linardatou was the better fighter in the second half of the contest, taking advantage of Baumgardner’s fatigue to take the fight to her, landing nonstop combinations. Baumgardner looked exhausted after the fourth round and appeared to lose every round from the fifth on.
You can argue that Linardatou deserved the win, but she wasn’t going to get it with the way the judges were scoring it. They ignored her combination punching and gave Baumgardner rounds based on the two or three good shots she landed.
This writer had a clear win for Linardatou, as she dominated the exhausted-looking Baumgardner in the second half of the fight and looked impressive throughout. Her stamina was atrocious, as it’s been in her recent fights.
Even in the earlier rounds, Linardatou was the better fighter, overwhelming the slower Baumgardner with speedy combination punching. Baumgardner was the A-side, so it’s not a big shock that the judges gave her rounds that she appeared to lose.
The positive test by Baumgardner will call into question her recent wins over these fighters:
- Elhem Mekhaled
- Mikaela Mayer
- Edith Soledad Matthysse
- Terri Harper
- Vanessa Bradford
Baumgardner came out of nowhere to destroy Harper in four rounds in 2021. Before that fight, Baumgardner wasn’t talked about, but she looked like a world-beater in that contest until meeting up with Linardatou last July in winning a questionable decision, in this writer’s view.
BREAKING: Per 4 sources with knowledge of results & paperwork I obtained, undisputed women's 130 champion Alycia Baumgardner tested positive for banned steroid Mesterolone in 7/12 urine test conducted by Drug Free Sport, 3 days prior to Linardatou fight. Results came back 8/10.
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 16, 2023