Natasha Jonas: “It’s a huge fight, and beating Mikaela Mayer would be a big scalp.”

Natasha Jonas: “It’s a huge fight, and beating Mikaela Mayer would be a big scalp.”

Natasha Jonas will defend her IBF welterweight title against the American Mikaela Mayer on January 20th in Liverpool. Jonas and Mayer will headline in the M & S Bank Arena. A long-awaited hometown main event for the reigning IBF champion.

“It adds a little bit of added pressure, but that excites me,” Jonas says. “I’ve only boxed in Liverpool a handful of times, and I have never headlined, so I want it to be a night to remember for all the right reasons.”

The importance of the fight more than justifies the headline status. Jonas, a three-time world champion at super-welterweight and the stoppage win over the Canadian Kandi Wyatt in Manchester earlier this year, made Miss GB’ a two-weight world champion. Mayer is a former unified world super-featherweight champion. Make no mistake, the two fighters bring a lot of pedigree and talent to the table. A fight with a lot at stake for what lies ahead.

“It’s a huge fight, and beating Mikaela Mayer would be a big scalp,” Jonas told FightPost.
You have two well-schooled, experienced elite fighters who can box and fight. What more do you want? The winner sets themselves up for opportunities with some of the top names in the sport.”

The likes of Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron have long been on the radar of Jonas. If Cameron hadn’t got the call to fight Taylor earlier this year, we might already have seen a fight between Cameron and Jonas. But despite what potentially is in her future, Jonas is only focusing on Mayer. She knows a defeat in her home city could be the end.

“I’ll never look past what’s in front of me, especially with a fighter of the calibre of a Mikaela Mayer. I’ve said it before if I don’t win, nothing else comes after. So it’s all about securing the win, then I’ll allow my brain to wonder.” Jonas says with only thoughts on January and Mayer.

Jonas and Mayer are no strangers to having a fight-of-the-year contender. Mayer had one of the greatest female fights of all time when she traded blows with Maiva Hamadouche for ten relentlessly savage rounds and Jonas has two all-time classics on her resume with her fights against Terri Harper and Katie Taylor. This fight could be another in a similar vein.

“My aim is to win, how it comes doesn’t really matter,” Jonas says, refusing to put any additional pressure on herself to deliver another classic. For her, it is the victory that’s more important than anything else. “If it’s a fight of the year, the fans, the promoter, and the network win.”

Jonas has beaten the likes of Patricia Berghult and Marie Eve Dicaire in her super-welterweight days, but a win over Mayer would almost certainly be the best victory of her professional career.

“It would definitely be up there,” Jonas says. “There have been a few fights I’ve had where I knew I had to be on it. But with no disrespect to any opponents in the past, as far as pedigree goes, a win over Mayer would definitely be my biggest so far.”

2024 will almost certainly be the last year in the boxing career of Natasha Jonas, and the Liverpool fighter only wants the fights that will enhance her legacy in the sport.

“The next few fights are probably going to be my last few fights in boxing. I want them to be big, I want to test myself, fight the best, and leave a lasting legacy.”

The refreshing thing about the fight is that there is no fake beef, just mutual respect. “I don’t have a grudge against Natasha Jonas. She just has something that I want,” Mayer told FightPost last month. For Jonas, Mayer brings the recognition and the big name that Jonas craves at this stage of her long and illustrious career.

Jonas and Mayer is a fight that ticks every box imaginable. It is a genuine 50/50 fight and will almost certainly be an early contender for the fight of the year. As Jonas says in the press release to formally announce the fight.

“It’s my fifth world title fight with BOXXER, in my backyard and I’m ready for it. It’s Mikaela Mayer, she stretches above and beyond the UK shores. ‘Miss GB’ versus ‘Miss USA’ and may the best woman win!”