Is Natasha Jonas vs. Mikaela Mayer Close To Being Officially Announced?

Is Natasha Jonas vs. Mikaela Mayer Close To Being Officially Announced?

There are extremely encouraging indications that a fight between Natasha Jonas and Mikaela Mayer for the IBF world welterweight title is close to being formally announced.

Both fighters have dropped pretty big clues on their respective social media accounts in the last 24 hours that an announcement is imminent. FightPost is of the understanding that the negotiations are at an advanced stage, with dates being explored for January and February, with the fight likely to find a home in Liverpool or Manchester. A hometown gig for Jonas would be the preference for the Liverpool fighter in what could, regardless of how the fight goes for her, be the farewell appearance in her home city. A win over Mayer could open the door for a big stadium fight in Tanzania, where she is an Ambassador. Preliminary talks have already taken place. But the American will look to put a stamp on her immediate fighting future by beating Jonas. A big fight with big implications for both fighters.

Jonas has stated that fight news is coming, and Mayer has also posted the following on her Twitter (X) account.

‘Love when the manager calls with a solid update. We’re in motion.’

Both fighters have expressed a desire to fight each other, and barring any last-minute complications, it does appear that in the next week or so, Jonas and Mayer will be officially granted their wishes. They appear to only have eyes for each other.

Jonas, in an interview with FightPost last month, said, “Mikaela Mayer brings the recognition, the profile, and the skills. That is the fight I want.”

And the American told me in August that she was moving to welterweight and targeting a fight with Jonas. Neither fighter is seemingly chasing any other fight.

The fight makes sense for both. Mayer will land an opportunity to win a world title at a second weight, and Jonas will likely receive a career-high payday and once again be involved in a massive high-profile fight. The winner could rightly claim that it would be their best-ever victory. The phrase is criminally overused at times, but this is one of those fights that can quite rightly be labelled a 50/50 fight.

The careers of both mirror in many ways. Their days at super-featherweight ended in controversial fashion. Mayer was widely perceived to be desperately unlucky not to have her hand raised against her bitter rival Alycia Baumgardner last October. Jonas ended her super-featherweight run in 2020 after a world title fight with Terri Harper that ended in a hotly disputed draw, with most observers believing Jonas was denied a rightful victory.

Jonas lost a wafer-thin points decision to Katie Taylor the following year, and like Mayer has since that loss to Baumgardner, found a way back into the world title picture problematic. But both moved up multiple weight divisions to force that door open.

‘Miss GB’ moved up to super-welterweight in 2022 and became the unified world champion at 154, and earlier this year dropped down to welterweight and beat the Canadian Kandi Wyatt in Manchester to claim the vacant IBF bauble.

Mayer, the former unified world super-featherweight champion has had two fights since suffering her first professional defeat in London and last time out, she moved up to super-lightweight to win a wide points decision over the tough Silvia Bortot in Manchester and immediately turned her attention to a fight with Jonas who was ringside on commentary duties for Sky Sports.

The two former Olympians are no strangers to exciting fights, and you suspect if they do share a ring together early next year, their styles look set to gel enough to serve up another classic. It does seem like one of those fights that just can’t fail to deliver.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer