Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol both passed their final drug tests following their light-heavyweight world title fight earlier this month.
Bivol stunned fans around the world when he handed Alvarez his first loss since Floyd Mayweather almost a decade prior. And both men underwent a series of tests under Voluntary Anti-Doping Association protocols, which the organisation has now confirmed they passed.
A statement released by VADA on Twitter early this morning read: "Congratulations to Canelo [Alvarez] and Dmitry Bivol for successfully completing VADA testing through their May 7, 2022 bout." Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing was tagged in the post, as well as their CEO Frank Smith, COO Shaun Palmer, the WBA whose belt was on the line and broadcaster DAZN.
Despite Alvarez initially seeming keen on an immediate rematch with the Russian, it now appears he will move back down to super- middleweight where he is the undisputed world champion. The Mexican is expected to face long-time rival Gennady Golovkin in a massive September showdown.
The initial plan is for Alvarez to face Golovkin in a trilogy bout in September, before pursuing a rematch against Bivol in December. However, that is dependant on a big performance and win against the Kazakh fighter, whom many felt has been unfortunate not to pick up a win in their series so far.
On their May 7 fight night, bookmakers were offering a Bivol victory at 4/1 to beat Alvarez, despite being the undefeated reigning champion heading into the event. However, he dominated proceedings from start to finish and ended up winning the fight relatively comfortable.
Prior to the Bivol fight, Hearn's deal with Alvarez was for the multiple-weight world champion to fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend, before moving on to Golovkin in September. There were also tentative plans for a December fight, likely against John Ryder, in the UK.
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And despite his loss, it appears that the pound-for-pound great will choose to continue with the general terms of the plan, with the December date likely making way for the rematch. Alvarez's deal is currently just for two bouts, with Matchroom shelling out $85million (£68m) for his services.
But his relationship with Hearn is solid, and the belief is that he will stick around with the British promoter past the two fights on his deal. He confirmed that the plan is now to go ahead with the Golovkin fight, as was initially planned, on Mexican Independence Day weekend this September.
"Surely yes," he said of fighting his old rival at a recent press conference. "We already had that contract, that deal so we have to continue what we started and I think those are the two biggest fights in boxing, the fight with Golovkin and the rematch with Bivol.
"Unfortunately we lost [against Bivol], but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try again. The important thing here is perseverance and we're going to do it again."
