Mikaela Mayer: "Plan A is the rematch with Tasha. Plan B is the winner of Sandy Ryan and Terri Harper. But I am open to other offers. If there is a title available at 154, then I would go there."

FightPost: MMA & Boxing News

February 1

There was much trepidation before the connection was mutual over Zoom. Thoughts of what version of Mikaela Mayer I would find on the other end.

I remember all too vividly how Mayer was and felt after suffering her first professional defeat at the hands of her most heated rival Alycia Baumgardner fifteen months ago. A broken, fragile grieving fighter, who struggled to process and accept her loss to her fellow American in that red-hot world super-featherweight unification fight in London in 2022.

Mayer was convinced that she had won. Many agreed with her, not least the 20,000 fans inside the O2 Arena in London, who booed Baumgardner hard and long when she had hand raised by that strongly debated wafer-thin split decision reversal.

Maybe there were regrets despite her feelings that she had been robbed of a rightful victory. Did Mayer think she could have done a little more to remove all doubt in the eyes of the judges? But just a week or so after another similar close call on the cards that left Mayer with her second professional defeat, maybe that is why I saw a different fighter this time. There was no grieving. Just someone who was more reflective, and accepting of her defeat to Natasha Jonas on January 20th in Liverpool. Mayer, unlike in the fight with Baumgardner, couldn't have done any more.

Against Baumgardner, she felt and was told that she was boxing her way nicely to her signature win on the biggest night of her boxing life. Why risk that and a perceived certain victory against a known puncher like Baumgardner, was the feeling from the Mayer inner circle as the rounds and the clock ticked by. But unbeknown to the American, two of the judges saw a different fight. The pain from their pen lingered long and hard.

But against Jonas, Mayer could not have done anything different. There is no grieving this time, Mayer told me.

"For a few reasons, it definitely doesn't feel as bad. I walked into the fight as a challenger, and I walked away from it as a challenger, so nothing has been taken away from me. So, I still feel as though I am in position. It's a new weight class, so there are still lots of opportunities for me here. 99% of people have my back and thought that I won the fight. It was such a good performance that it was still a big positive for my career. I was really proud of my performance. Nobody can take that away from me. My worth has still retained itself despite not having a belt and despite not getting the victory over Natasha."

That heartbreaking shattering defeat to Baumgardner still carries the inevitable emotional scars. Mayer remembered that feeling in her fight for the IBF world welterweight title against Jonas. This time she wouldn't leave anything to chance. Or so she thought. The plan was very much to take each round at a time. And win them.

"I was very conscious in the fight. I was telling myself to just win this round," Mayer says. "Don't even think about the next round. I was just so focused on that one round. That's why you saw me multiple times push her against the ropes, just to show my dominance. So, I was very conscious to do that. I did that. I imposed myself, and I made sure I won those rounds. I was very confident that I had won the fight."

Mayer has watched the fight back. The immediate post-fight thoughts that she had won, have only be hardened on second viewing.

"You have to sway some of the rounds in her favour because you've got to know what the judges are thinking, and it was in her hometown as well. I've watched it back, and I wouldn't give Tasha more than three rounds." A fighter who still firmly believes she has been denied a rightful second world title.

The loss to Baumgardner was disputed. Maybe, her loss to Jonas is even more so. The confidence of certain victory after the final bell soon gave way to that sick familiar feeling that history would repeat itself.

"When the first score was announced for Tasha, I thought not again," Mayer told FightPost. "That card was too wide. I expected close stuff because we were in her hometown. But that was too much in her favour. But even when the second judge scored it for me, I still just knew that they wouldn't give it to me."

Mayer was classy and respectful in defeat. Jonas equally so in victory. But even with the immediate heartache of another disputed defeat on UK soil, Mayer soon turned her attention to seeking the rematch.

"In my head, my first thought was to get that rematch. So I didn't want to be too harsh," Mayer says of those fleeting hard post-fight moments. "I have a lot more respect for Tasha than I do for someone else who we won't mention. Tasha is a nice person regardless of what happened. You can tell that just from her post-fight interview. She seems like a good down to earth person. I see her as the type of person who would give me a rematch if the fans demanded to see it. So I thought, let me get the fans on my side with my speech. I wanted to get everyone excited immediately for another fight."

"You have to do it for the fans. They want to see the rematch. It's wanted. It's warranted, and that is when a rematch should happen." Mayer added.

Mayer now has that sinking feeling that she will likely have to return to the scene of her two career disappointments if she wants to once again become a world champion. All her future opponents reside on British soil. Mayer understands that better than anyone. But the scars of two hard nights remain.

"I am not going to lie it does deter me a little bit to go back over there because of what has happened to me twice before," Mayer says of fighting again in the UK. "But I need that belt for leverage to then come back to America and do what I need to do. It might be that I am stuck out there until I can get that belt. If Natasha gives me that rematch, it probably won't be in Liverpool, but it will be in the UK. Or, if I fight the winner of Sandy Ryan and Terri Harper, they are both Matchroom fighters and that will likely be in the UK also. But I do want to be in the place where the fight sells the most. It made sense to fight Natasha in Liverpool. So I do want to keep a fight where it gets the most eyes."

There are regrets and mixed thoughts about her current plight. Fifteen months ago Mayer was undefeated and a unified world super-featherweight champion. Thinking on reflection should she have fought Baumgardner on home soil on a Top Rank show instead of fighting on the big all-female Boxxer card in London. But equally, Mayer knows boxing is a sport of risks and taking opportunities when they present themselves.

"It's been going back and forth in my head. If I had been protected in that fight with Baumgardner and not had my belts taken from me, I would be in a very different position now," Mayers says in reflection of those fifteen months where everything has changed for her. "But everything happens for a reason. It would have kept me at 130 for too long, so maybe in the long run, it's better. But I went over to the UK to be on an amazing all-female card and be on a great event, and I did that. But then this is boxing, you are not going to get robbed on your own card with your own promoter. But I don't want to be that kind of fighter. I want to take risks and go where the fights are going to sell and be a part of big events like that. But I shouldn't be thinking will I be protected there. That's just the sad part of boxing. I don't want to live my career that way. But I can't get that out of my head. It's happened twice over there, and it will probably happen again."

Despite the defeat Mayer still has options. The rematch with Jonas her primary target. But there is the winner of the March all-British world title showdown between Sandy Ryan and Terri Harper also a possibility for the still ambitious American. There have already been some initial interactions on both. But a temporary visit to super-welterweight could also be a way back in for Mayer. Win a title there if no doors open immediately for her at welterweight, before the inevitable move back down to 147.

"If they came knocking at my door with the money and the title, then I would consider moving to 154," Mayer told me. "But it's not my first choice. My first choice is staying at 147 and fighting these girls where I feel comfortable."

Mayer might be down but she is far from out. "This feels like a bump in the road. I am not discouraged," she says of her latest setback. "I think I looked good in that fight. I did think I would be high risk, low reward. But I think they will still be rewarded for fighting me. I have built my name and my career enough to still be a desirable match-up for anyone, and people will still be paid well to fight me. It sucks not knowing. That is the most frustrating part, the suspense of not knowing who is going to be next. I don't have that security of knowing what's next."

But there is a plan. Calls are being made. Mayer is just on standby mode waiting for the definitive way forward.

"Plan A is the rematch with Tasha. Plan B is the winner of Sandy Ryan and Terri Harper. But I am open to other offers. If there is a title available at 154, then I would go there. We are discussing things. I got two calls before I even left the UK. I want to stay busy, but I don't want to go back to taking fights that don't inspire me against opponents nobody knows. It's not what I want to do. I'll do what I have got to do. If I have to go to 154 I will."

A third career defeat in the same disputed circumstances could leave Mayer thinking is it all worth it, and leaving her with thoughts of walking away.

"I don't think so," Mayer says of any impending premature retirement. "You never know until things happen. But I don't think I could ever hang the gloves up without getting back on top. To me, I could never end my career on that note. I'm still not done, I still have that itch. There are so many opportunities in this new weight division. I'm excited. I'm motivated."

Mayer is honest about why she fights on. At 33, she has achieved plenty. The two defeats have both been in highly controversial circumstances. She could easily walk away satisfied with her current resume. But Mayer still wants more. She fights on to cement her legacy and financial future.

"I'm not as rich as I want to be yet, so to me, the money is important. To me, being rich would mean I never have to work again. That's what I want to leave this sport with. But I also want to focus on my legacy and make the biggest fights possible. The money will come with that. The money will follow that. Money and legacy go hand in hand. I have worked too hard in this sport to not leave it set for life."

It's difficult not to have empathy and sympathy with Mikaela Mayer. There was an edge about her all-fight week that highlighted perfectly the importance of her fight with Jonas. More so, the victory. It would have given her the leverage and the security that she craves. Sadly for her, she knows she has to go back to the UK again and risk everything all over again. And once more hope and pray, that next time it will be her night.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer