In a fantastic fight, Mikaela Mayer defeated Sandy Ryan via majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 96-94) to win the WBO welterweight championship on Friday at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The fight was seasoned with mounds of bad blood and went to another level before the event began. Ryan was assaulted with red paint by an unknown person, which she said affected her in the ring. To be honest, you couldn’t tell. Ryan was spectacular in defeat. She put tons of pressure on Mayer, especially in the fight’s second half.
However, Mayer’s length, combinations, uppercuts, and length convinced two judges to score the fight in her favor. Both fighters had their moments. Ryan appeared to rock Mayer in the fourth round with a huge left hook. To Mayer’s credit, she never took a step back and was not afraid to engage in exchanges.
Mayer appeared to hurt Ryan on at least two occasions. The last time came in the 10th and final round, and it might have been the difference in the fight being scored a majority draw. The Mayer-Ryan beef began when the latter came to the United States to train and chose to come to the former’s gym.
Mayer had an issue with it, knowing the two would eventually fight. Ryan implied that this beef led to the paint attack before the fight, but Mayer denied involvement. After the fight, Mayer made it clear she would prefer to pursue unifying the welterweight titles.
However, she did say that if the fans wanted her to rematch Ryan, and “if the money is right,” she would fight her rival again.
Ryan seemed particularly despondent after the fight during her interview with ESPN’s Mark Kriegel, who scored the fight in her favor. Ryan blamed the attack on her lack of focus and in-ring mistakes and seemed shaken by heckling fans. No matter what anyone says, Ryan and Mayer put on a classic and they further put women’s boxing over with their performance.
Former champion Amanda Serrano took to X offer kudos to Mayer and Ryan during their performance.
Serrano has a high-profile rematch coming on November 15 against Katie Taylor. That fight is the co-main event preceding the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson bout from Arlington, Texas.
Longtime boxing journalist also applauded the fight. He too scored the fight for Mayer at 96-94.
If you’ve yet to watch an entire women’s boxing match and are interested, this is the one you’ll want to watch as an indoctrination to the sport.
