Mikaela Mayer will be fine with a win over Alycia Baumgardner as final confirmation of ruling the 130-pound division.
The highly anticipated showdown between Mayer and Baumgardner will officially be one belt away from undisputed championship status. The only obstacle is the WBA, which is currently in the possession of Hyun Mi Choi. Both fighters have attempted to secure a fight with the undefeated two-division champion, though most pundits consider his head-to-head clash to be the true division championship.
“I definitely think I knocked out 130. After this fight, I will have beaten all the top guys at 130 that really want to fight,” Mayer told BoxingScene.com. “I consider this to be the undisputed fight. I feel like the fans see it that way too.
“With all the hype on this fight, it definitely feels like the undisputed fight. It’s not just because none of us can fight Choi. I don’t know why the WBA definitely needs to intervene. But I have worked very hard to get to this point.”
Mayer-Baumgarder is scheduled for this Saturday, live on Sky Sports and ESPN+ from The O2 in London. The entire show, including the Claressa Shields-Savannah Marshall undisputed middleweight championship, must go on as planned for now, though her official status is in limbo due to the unfortunate passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
Provided the fight does take place, there is little doubt that Mayer (17-0, 5KOs) and Baumgardner (12-1. 7KOs) will come in as the two best 130-pound fighters in the world. The only debate is who is considered the best, although that will be resolved once they enter the ring.
Baumgardner crashed the party with an emphatic fourth-round knockout of then-undefeated WBC champion Terri Harper on November 13 in Sheffield, England. The feat, recognized by BoxingScene.com as the 2021 Women’s Knockout of the Year, came eight days after Mayer outlasted Maiva Hamadouche in their sensational WBO/IBF unification clash at the 2021 Women’s Fight of the Year on September 5. November in Vegas.
Mayer made it a point to get on her feet and fight the hard-hitting Hamadouche to pick up her second belt, just thirteen months after dominating the undefeated Eva Brodnicka to claim the WBO title in October 2020, trying to secure a fight with Choi ( 19-0-1, 5KOs), before moving on to fights and opponents within reach.
The same was done by Baumgardner, who was led to believe that a WBC/WBA unification fight was booked for this summer only to be misled by Choi’s team as well.
Once it became clear that Choi, who hasn’t fought since last September and has only made one title defense per year since 2018, would not be available, the focus immediately turned to Mayer-Baumgardner. The binomial is already the best rivalry in the sport outside the ring. The battle royal in the ring will determine the best junior lightweight in the world, whether or not Choi decides to get involved.
That said, Mayer remains receptive to the idea of staying at 130 long enough to really clean up the division, albeit within reason.
“Once I beat Alycia, I will have taken the belt from every one of the champions,” Mayer stated. “I still want to push Choi to fight for the undisputed. After this fight, I will have collected all of her belts except hers. All she has to do is show up.
“Hopefully we can finish the fight in December or January, and then I have every intention of going up to 135 after that.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
