In one of the best women’s doubleheaders ever, the main support fight this weekend may be the one with the most lasting ramifications.
Ahead of the long-awaited middleweight unification fight between lineal and WBA/WBC/IBF queen Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs) and WBO champion Savannah Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), fans they will enjoy another unification fight. at junior lightweight
In one corner, 32-year-old IBF and WBO champion Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs). In the other, the 28-year-old WBC champion Alycia Baumgardner. Mayer, a 2012 US Olympian already recognized as the legitimate champion in the division by The Ring, is ranked number one by the ratings panel at LinealBoxingChampion.com (LBC). Baumgardner is ranked number two.
The winner will undoubtedly come out of the queen of the division.
Now take a look at the bookends in these opposite corners.
While Shields-Marshall is an excellent fight, it’s hard to see what awaits the winner that will be bigger than this contest. If the battle can satisfy the animosity between the two heading into the fight, a rematch might be the best bet.
The field is different for the Mayer-Baumgardner winner.
The junior lightweight is sitting four pounds north of featherweight and five pounds south of lightweight. Who sits on top of those divisions?
It was only a few months ago that fans were treated to a clash between the answer to that question. In April, Ireland’s undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (21-0, 6 KOs) successfully defended her crown against WBC/WBO featherweight champion Amanda Serrano. They provided a fight of the year contender in front of a packed house at one of boxing’s great halls, Madison Square Garden.
It was hailed as the greatest women’s fight of all time. They delivered the products when the lights were brightest. A rematch would be a big deal. They have not gone directly there.
Taylor’s next move has yet to be announced. Serrano returns to featherweight to settle any debate over his place at the top of the field. On September 24, in another unification fight in a year packed with them, Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs) will take on IBF champion Sarah Mahfoud (11-0, 3 KOs). El Serrano-Mahfoud will be recognized as the legitimate champion by both The Ring and LBC.
Given the profile of this weekend’s event, being in the split between Serrano and Taylor is a great place to be. Both Mayer and Baumgardner know this, as they gave interviews before their fight in which Serrano or Taylor were referenced as future enemies. It’s a great place for fans too.
We’ve already seen a jump from featherweight to lightweight. By the end of this month, we’ll have three widely recognized division leaders in a span of three divisions who can mix and match to make the Serrano-Taylor rivalry more than that. Serrano, from Puerto Rico, has won titles from jr. bantamweight to jr. welterweight, but is only just beginning to find opponents to highlight his remarkable accomplishments.
So we can’t ignore what’s going on a division above Taylor, either.
In November, lineal welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill (12-2, 5 KO) and lineal junior welterweight Chantelle Cameron (16-0, 8 KO) for Cameron’s title. Taylor already has a victory over McCaskill of the United States. Cameron, from the UK, could be an attractive opponent for Taylor with regional attraction built in.
If Taylor-Serrano II isn’t an immediate option, and Taylor looked up the scales, what would be more appealing to Serrano than a clash with the Mayer-Baumgardner winner? Could Taylor accept that winner’s challenge if he stayed at lightweight?
The bottom line is that the winner of Mayer-Baumgardner could be the best positioned fighter in the women’s game to have her next big night in the offing after this weekend.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Classification Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be contacted at [email protected]
