On Saturday, Ring, IBF and WBO junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer will take on her WBC counterpart Alycia Baumgardner at The O2 Arena, London, England.
The balanced matchup will air on ESPN starting at 2:00pm ET/11:00am PT and on Sky Sports in the UK at 7pm GMT.
Ranked No. 4 on the legendary pound-for-pound list, Mayer was a standout amateur, taking bronze at the 2012 World Championships and representing her country at the 2016 Olympics.
She defeated Ewa Brodnicka (UD 10) to become the WBO 130-pound champion. Two fights later, she added The Ring and IBF titles by defeating Maïva Hamadouche (UD 10). The 32-year-old has retained her title against Jennifer Han (UD 10).
Baumgardner, who is ranked No. 2 by The Ring at junior lightweight, won two national titles before turning pro in 2017. After winning her first six fights, the Ohio native lost to future welterweight champion junior Christina Linardatou (SD 8).
“The Bomb” won four fights and showed off his vaunted power by annexing the WBC title from Terri Harper (TKO 4). The 28-year-old followed that up by beating Edith Soledad Matthysse (UD 10).
Can Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) use his boxing skills to good effect and keep Baumgardner out? Or will Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) be able to force Mayer to her feet and trade with her? Will it be Mayer’s clever boxing brain that prevails or Baumgardner’s brute force? This is the biggest fight of both ladies’ careers, who will handle the pressure better and rise to the occasion?
Online betting group William Hill lists Mayer as a 1/3 favorite (-300), while Shields is priced at 12/5 (+240); the draw is 12/1 (+1200).
Here’s how the experts see it: THE RING MAGAZINE/RINGTV.COM
TOM GRAY: MAYER UD
“I think Baumgardner is a skilled and powerful professional. I know a lot of pundits who picked her to beat Teri Harper and she cleaned house that night. However, I still think it’s a work in progress and Mayer’s experience at this level could be crucial. I think Baumgardner is very successful early on, but Mayer closes the gap to win a close, maybe even controversial decision.
ANSON WAINWRIGHT: MAYER MD
“This is the toughest test of Mayer’s career to date. However, I think Mayer will rise to the occasion and pick his spots and fight with discipline. Baumgardner is too good not to have moments and the fight will be exciting, but I like that Mayer wins by majority decision.
Mikaela Mayer (left) and Jennifer Han (right) exchange blows during their WBO and IBF junior lightweight championship fight at The Hangar on April 9, 2022 in Costa Mesa, California. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
LEE GROVES: MAYER UD
“Mayer is taller, heavier and an excellent ring general, plus she has fought the best level of opposition. She showed against Maiva Hamadouche that she can successfully trade with a respected puncher if need be, but I don’t expect her to do so here. She believes that she will use her boxing skills to rack up points, frustrate Baumgardner and achieve the unanimous decision win.”
MICHAEL MONTERO: MAYER UD
“The Mayer-Baumgardner unification fight is a true ‘pick em’ matchup. Mayer is more experienced and has faced better opposition, but he can’t crack an egg with his punches. Meanwhile, Baumgardner has recently displayed a level of explosiveness and athleticism that is rare among female fighters. Nonetheless, I think skills will decide this fight, and Mayer has the upper hand there. He’ll go the distance, and Mayer wins by unanimous decision.”
NORM FEMALE HOME: MAYER UD
“Alycia Baumgardner is agile and athletic. She also has some power. All of that means testing Mayer, especially in the early rounds. But Mayer’s sense of the ring and educated footwork will start to score midway through the fight and prove to be overwhelming late.”
TOM GERBASI: MAYER PTS
“Mayer has become one of my favorite fighters in recent years because she keeps getting better and really wants to fight the best competition out there. I give Baumgardner credit for not trying to marinate this fight, but I think Mayer’s superior boxing and Al Mitchell’s training will be the kryptonite for her. We’ve never seen Mayer with a puncher like Baumgardner, so she’s always there, but if she avoids any nonsense, she should get a points win.”
DIEGO MORILLA: MAYER PTS
“In a historic month for women’s boxing, Shields and Serrano will make their case to advance the discussion pound-for-pound from their respective positions at 2 and 3. Mayer, on the other hand, will have to leave him. everyone in the ring if she wants to hang on to No. 4 of hers on that list. She’ll likely achieve that goal and even earn an extra measure of respect for taking on the woman who destroyed tough-as-nails Terri Harper for a piece of the title. But a walk in the park will not be. Mayer is just as determined and talented as Shields. But unlike her former Olympic teammate, Mayer will face a fierce rival who is neither afraid nor genuinely impressed by Mayer’s accomplishments. There will be no room for Mayer’s mistakes, but I guess she knows what she’s up against and will give it her all in pursuit of a career-defining win for her.”
BOXING COACHES
DUKE MCKENZIE (FORMER THREE-DIVISION HOLDER/TV ANALYST): MAYER TKO 8
“Mayer wins this one with the experience advantage via round 8 TKO.”
RAUL MARQUEZ (FORMER WORLD CHAMPION / COMMENTATOR): MAYER UD
“Baumgardner is strong, he comes forward and will go for the KO. For Mayer, she will change it. She gives different looks to the painting and attacks she has a lot of heart. Mayer by near unanimous decision.
SERGIO MORA (FORMER WORLD CHAMPION / COMMENTATOR): BAUMGARDNER PTS
“I think Mayer-Baumgardner will be a competitive fight. I can see Mayer having moments, but like Baumgardner by hard-fought decision. I don’t see a KO with only two rounds of minutes to work, so I go with the most active, conditioned and fastest fighter.
MARC RAMSAY (COACH): MAYER UD
“An ultra-competitive women’s fight. Baumgardner obviously packs a punch, but I think people underestimate her ability as a boxer. Even though I think Mayer will win, it will be a tough fight.”
JOLENE MIZZONE (MANAGER): DRAW
“I’m going to call this a draw as I think it’s a pretty even fight. I would lean towards Mayer, but the first time you fight outside of the United States it can take a toll on you mentally. The bottom line is that it’s about time we had two great women’s fights on one card.”
BARRY MCGUIGAN (FORMER WORLD CHAMPION): MAYER
“I think this couple could be the fight of the night. Alycia Baumgardner is improving, but I don’t think she is proficient enough in her back foot boxing skills to beat Mayer, who is an excellent attacking fighter and a deceptively good puncher. He will be close but Mayer wins it for me.”
Alycia Baumgardner (left) takes aim against Terri Harper (right)- Photo by Mark Robinson/ Matchroom Boxing
KALLE SAUERLAND (PROMOTER, WASSERMAN BOXING): MAYER
“A great fight, a very, very tough fight. I would lean towards Mayer on points, it could even be a split decision.”
CAMILLE ESTEPHAN (PROMOTER, EYE OF THE TIGER): MAYER UD
“Difficult fight to predict, it will be very interesting I think Mayer by unanimous decision.”
ALEX STEEDMAN (COMMENTATOR): MAYER PTS
“Baumgardner looked a bit special with his spectacular knockout of Terry Harper and while that still remains, there were hints last time that it’s still in the works. The awkward moments when he usually outplayed his opponent gave me a little hesitation and we know Mayer will certainly ask deeper questions. Don’t expect Mayer to put up a ridiculously aggressive FOY competitor against Hamadouche, she can box a lot smarter than that, but smart pressing could be the key. Baumgardner seems like she has ‘the stuff’ to compete, but Mayer has different ways to win, as well as experience, which gives her the edge against a potentially exciting opponent.”
ERIC BOTTJER (CAREMENTER): MAYER PTS
“Great matchup. There is quality on both sides here. I choose Mayer by choice. But Baumgardner is in this fight. She has an ‘it’ factor for sure and she can hit. She also has added incentive to hit Mayer, considering some of the pre-fight comments. I think Baumgardner sees insecurity in Mayer and is motivated by what she sees as a titled boxer who demeans her accomplishments. If Mayer can get out of potential trouble, I see her earning points simply because of his normal punch volume. He throws more and lands more than Baumgardner.”
WAYNE MCCULLOUGH (FORMER WORLD CHAMPION/COACH): MAYER PTS
“This is going to be a fight where, I think, a lot of punches are going to be thrown. I think Baumgardner will be forced to fight, although she generally likes to have room to hit using her long jabs and good moves and if she can do this, she can win. If Mayer is able to force the pace of the fight, I think he will outplay Baumgardner and get a points win on the cards.”
Final count: Mayer 16-1-1
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