Mikaela Mayer Beats Sandy Ryan On Points To Win The WBO World Welterweight Title
It had shades of her fight with Maiva Hamadouche back in 2021, and Mikaela Mayer was involved in yet another all-time classic on Friday night in New York.
Mayer and Sandy Ryan engaged and traded punches virtually non-stop for ten beyond-hard rounds. In simple terms, it was one of the greatest female fights of all time.
After losing two incredibly close decisions to Alycia Baumgardner and Natasha Jonas, Mayer, this time, left little doubt. I had the American winning beyond doubt. 96-94 was about right despite the usual and tiresome cries of robbery. The judges had it 95-95, 97-93, 96-94. I don't have any real qualms with any of those scorecards. All three for me were in the realms of acceptability. A lot of the rounds were close. But Mayer just did a little more in most of them.
After learning the lessons from the slow starts that cost her so dearly against Baumgardner and Jonas, Mayer, this time, started fast. A big right hand slightly buckled the legs of Ryan in the opening as Mayer made the perfect start. The knees of the British fighter dipped slightly. Mayer had already sent out a little warning to the confident champion.
But Ryan came back in the second round. And the pattern was well and truly set. I had it dead level after four rounds, but Mayer did enough to edge the majority of the rounds in the second half of the fight. Ryan never stopped coming forward and more than played her part in a truly incredible spectacle. But Mayer just had a little more variety, and when she found space, she boxed well behind her jab. Ryan had her moments, little segments of the fight where you thought size would tell. But I always thought Mayer was a little step ahead of her. Not by much. But enough.
Mayer said post-fight, "It was similar to how I thought it would go. I always said before that I respected Sandy as a boxer. She has a big pedigree, just like myself, but I knew I was gonna beat her to the punch. I knew I was faster. I knew I was sharper. And that's exactly what I did."
There was talk of a rematch, and while nobody would complain if we saw it again, Mayer is more likely to chase bigger fights elsewhere. With no rematch clause, Mayer now has leverage and control over where she goes next. The likes of rival champions Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price will be of obvious interest. But don't rule out a fight with Chantelle Cameron.
The fight was fought behind a backdrop of serious beef with accusations of treachery and more, and the disgraceful scenes pre-fight of Ryan being covered in paint as she left her hotel to go to the arena was shameful. Hopefully, the story of what we saw in the ring will be remembered more in the coming days and not the unsavoury actions that Ryan was cruelly subjected to. It was a fight for the ages.
Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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