They say luck evens out in the end.
After having been previously denied in split decisions in her only career defeats, Mikaela Mayer on Friday bested Sandy Ryan by majority decision at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After falling to Alycia Baumgardner in a junior lightweight title unification bout at London’s 02 Arena in 2022, Mayer was stung again in the U.K., losing a welterweight title fight to hometown fighter Natasha Jonas at Liverpool’s Echo Arena by dubious scores. The cards on Friday – 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93 – finally read in Mayer’s favor.
Mayer closed against Jonas by beating up her foe, ending the bout with emphatic momentum. The judges chose to reward her opponent’s early success instead. Against Ryan, Mayer wore the boxer’s hat – she kept her opponent at bay with jabs and side steps to the right for the first half of the fight, though she took numerous sledgehammer blows to the chin in the latter rounds. (ESPN’s Mark Kriegel scored the last five rounds for Ryan.)
Mayer never capitulated, though, despite seeming fatigued and on the brink of being overwhelmed at times. As her jab activity and movement slowed, she still popped the onrushing Ryan with big counters when opportunities arose, and snuck in aggressive flurries herself.
Ryan will feel hard done by. She was outmaneuvered early, even buckling from a powerful Mayer right hand in the opening round that called into question exactly who the puncher was in this matchup. But by the middle rounds, she was drawing Mayer onto the point of her big right and cutting off the ring with an efficiency that fans of Gennady Golovkin would have smiled at.
We’ve seen this before – a fighter is outmaneuvered early but finishes strong: Golovkin-Canelo II, Haney-Lomachenko, Mayer-Jonas. Ending the fight in finer form, even for a stretch of rounds, does not guarantee victory. Established boxing insiders nod, shrug and perhaps respectfully disagree; outsiders must wonder what the hell is up with the scoring system.
Critiques for Ryan are difficult to conjure; the 97-93 card in particular felt unjust. She landed her best punch numerous times and showed a fantastic chin, but so did Mayer. The two-minute rounds were little help in her expressed mission to hurt her opponent.
This fight may have been the culmination of a feud – Mayer accused Ryan of coming to the United States, worming her way into Mayer’s gym and stealing her trainer; Ryan resented the accusations and thinks Mayer is bitter – but the result, while deserved, feels inconclusive. A rematch is required if these two are to meaningfully separate themselves.
Rarely does ill will translate so directly to a magnificent fight. Aside from a few too many clinches down the stretch, an understandable side effect of the torrid pace, this bout checked all the boxes. Mayer boxed well early but was forced into an inevitable dogfight. Ryan had to keep digging when her power didn’t have the desired effect. Both fought through fatigue and big shots, never appearing hurt for more than an instant or two at a time.
So the 34-year-old Mayer, now 20-2 (5 KOs), has her long-awaited welterweight strap. In just her third fight at 147 pounds, she flashed the ideal blend of power and agility in her best moments and was able to ride out her worst when she tired late, perhaps in part due to the extra bulk. A near-champion last time out, she is undeniably one now.
But it is a shame that the 31-year-old Ryan (7-1-2, 3 KOs) had to lose her WBO title in such a dogged and brave performance. This writer, and likely every fan who watched the fight, hopes that the feud is adequately squashed for Mayer to give Ryan a chance at revenge.
Owen Lewis is a BoxingScene contributor and a former intern at Defector Media. He co-founded the website Popcorn Tennis.
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