The fallout of her originally scheduled opponent marked the last piece of past business for Mikaela Mayer.
By the time her arm was raised in victory, it was no longer about the former unified 130-pound titlist sending a message that she was out to avenge her lone career defeat. Alycia Baumgardner—who narrowly won their unification championship clash last October 15—was a constant topic of conversation leading into Mayer’s recent April 15 interim WBC lightweight title win.
Any thoughts Baumgardner had on her longtime rival’s return to the win column were no longer of any concern to Mayer.
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” Mayer noted when asked how she believed Baumgardner would view her performance in an April 15 win over Sweden’s Lucy Wildheart. “[Baumgardner] doesn’t want a rematch. She’s doing her own thing.
“She can stay behind at 130. I got new plans.”
The interim title at stake for the ESPN+/BT Sport-aired lightweight bout was deliberately sought by Top Rank, who will plan to put Mayer on a path to challenge for the divisional crown.
Ireland’s Katie Taylor (22-0, 6KOs) is the reigning undisputed 135-pound champ, though she will move up in weight for her next fight. Taylor is set to challenge undefeated and fully unified 140-pound queen Chantelle Cameron (17-0, 8KOs) atop a May 20 DAZN show from 3Arena in Dublin, marking her first career fight in her home country.
Mayer—a 2016 U.S. Olympian from the greater Los Angeles area who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado—entered her interim title fight originally expecting to face former two-time WBO junior welterweight titlist Christina Linardatou. Their fight collapsed the morning of the weigh-in, when the British Boxing Board of Control refused to license Greece’s Linardatou due to a permanent lens in her eye.
Top Rank secured the services of Wildheart (10-2, 4KOs), who trained with Linardatou though for a planned May homecoming bout in Sweden when she got the call earlier during fight week to be ready as a standby opponent. With that, the show was saved for Mayer who enjoyed a successful debut at lightweight—where she and her 5’9” frame will remain at least until she challenges for a title at that weight.
Not even a rematch with her lone career conqueror will motivate a return to the 130-pound division. Mayer is fine with the plan to print her own money and eventually persuade Baumgardner to face her at lightweight should the need arise for a second bout by that point.
“I’m not going back down to 130. I’m done there,” Mayer confirmed to Boxing Scene prior to the fight. People are like, ‘Sometimes you never know.’ Well, I know. At this point… it’s not that I can’t do it. But at this point, it would be a step back for my career. If I’m not fighting Alycia in a rematch for the undisputed championship, then any other fight at 130 is a step back.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox