Alycia Baumgardner (left) takes aim against Terri Harper (right)- Photo by Mark Robinson/ Matchroom Boxing
Alycia Baumgardner liked to hit things growing up. The diminutive dynamo was an all-around great athlete as a child. She dabbled in gymnastics, wrestling, softball, track and field, and most notably, boxing, which she started when she was eight years old. He had many male cousins and dated them. The 28-year-old is not intimidated.
So when she faced the Ring, IBF and WBO junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer on Tuesday, Baumgardner, the WBC titleholder who ranks second in The Ring junior lightweight rankings, felt that his tallest enemy radiated fear. The lightweight unification showdown will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday on ESPN (2 pm ET/11 am PT) and on Sky Sports in the UK (7 pm GMT).
Baumgardner’s (12-1, 7 KOs) goal is to get in range of Mayer and punish the 32-year-old on the body. The 5-foot-9 Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) will try to keep the 5-foot-6 Baumgardner on the outside at the end of his jab.
Baumgardner, known as “The Bomb,” feels she has several advantages over Mayer. Confidence comes first.
“It was a little intense when we first met (Tuesday) and he told me where I belong,” said Baumgardner, who is being trained by former WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison, who works with Baumgardner in Detroit. , Mich. “He told me (also) that she is afraid, she is threatened and tells me that he knows that he is going to lose on Saturday. That’s all she needed to see. I run out of energy. She’s definitely nervous. Her body language told me. I read people easily.
“She is 5-7. She is not 5-9. But I don’t care, 5-7, 5-9, 5-11. As a fighter, you adjust, and she fights as a tall fighter, which is more suitable for me. She fights head on. It is perfect. Standing next to her, she wasn’t much taller than me.”
Baumgardner is aware that Mayer is considered the “A side”, which he doesn’t care about either. She has been in title fights before.
“It doesn’t matter, I know what my task is, that is to beat her,” he said. “My fight against Terri Harper (when Baumgardner won the WBC belt by TKO 4), I was the ‘B side.’ That’s why I say it doesn’t matter. Look what happened to her. I had a great camp for this fight. I have been fighting for 20 years. I feel that I have everything finished (Mayer). My technique, my experience, this is a lifestyle for me. I first wrestled when I was five years old. Boxing is something that stayed. We made it happen. My parents saw something special in me. I was a naturally gifted athlete, and my parents knew how to push that on me.”
Baumgardner feels like she faced and overcame adversity when she lost to Christina Linardatou by split decision in 2018 in an escalation fight. She took on a 9-1 fighter and Baumgardner still feels like she won. She says losing her doesn’t define her. She knows what it’s like to lose and what it’s like to take a two-year break (during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she underwent surgery to repair a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee that was injured during the fight). ). She says that Mayer is a champion “with rights”, who has never faced any adversity.
Baumgardner hopes Mayer will show up and commit. She says that she is prepared for anything Mayer brings.
“You’re going to see a fight,” he promised. “I know he has an amateur style, so he will be on his bike all the time. For me, it’s about cutting the ring and it means throwing my punches in bunches. If she wants to introduce herself, we can make this a dogfight. I’m here to put her down and make sure she doesn’t get up from it. With this fight, you will see that someone is stopped.
“I gave her three options: her coach will throw in the towel, the referee will stop him, or I will knock her out. It will be great. Everyone will be in luck. I am in weight. My weight is good. It looks like a dried raisin (laughs).
“Mayer’s face tells me she’s scared. My only plan is to move on and she’s in my way.”
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com].
