Ringside Report: Natasha Jonas Edges Past Mikaela Mayer in Liverpool

Ringside Report: Natasha Jonas Edges Past Mikaela Mayer in Liverpool

It always promised to be a Fight of the Year contender, and that is exactly what we got in Liverpool on Saturday night. Natasha Jonas successfully defended her IBF world welterweight title by squeaking past the former unified world super-featherweight champion. The judges had it to Jonas by scores of 96-94, 93-97, 96-95. The Mayer team were incensed by the scoring, heavily feeling they had been robbed of a rightful victory.

The judges were split as were most of the media section. But however you scored it, and for who, it was an extremely close fight with plenty of swing rounds, especially in the second half of the fight. This observer had it dead level at the conclusion of a thoroughly engrossing, exciting, and brutal contest. It might be the kind of fight that on second viewing you see and score a different fight.

The opening rounds were easy to score I felt. After four rounds, I had it at two rounds apiece, as did most of the media around me. But the disparity in the scoring would be in the final six rounds, the 5th round being the first round on my card that could have gone either way. The media section had the scoring all over the place. But Mayer was seemingly the fighter who would have her hand raised based on the opinion around me.

I had Jonas up 5-3 after eight rounds, but I felt Mayer finished the stronger to have earned at least a draw on my cards. The general consensus in the media row was that the American had won. Some incredibly strongly.

I personally couldn’t really complain about the scoring. If Mayer had nicked it, nobody could really have complained. In truth, it could have gone either way.

There was rarely any daylight on the cards. Equally so in the ring. It was a back-and-forth affair. Much of it at close quarters. Each fighter taking it in turns to find success.

Jonas started well, but Mayer wouldn’t let her pull away using her physicality to make the Liverpool fighter work extremely hard for every success. Jonas had really good rounds in the 7th and the 8th, but it seemed to take a lot out of her, as Mayer came right back at her in the final two rounds. Jonas landed the more eye-catching shots, while Mayer never stopped marching forward. Their styles were always going to gel. And so it proved.

While I certainly don’t subscribe to the view that it was a robbery, but it’s not hard to feel some sympathy for Mayer, especially after what happened to her against Alycia Baumgardner fifteen months ago in London.

Mayer wants a rematch, and few would complain if we were to see it again. She deserves another chance at the very least at a world title. But there was tellingly no mention of a second fight at the post-fight press conference.

But Jonas at 39 just keeps marching on. The signature win on her record. And most certainly the hardest. Jonas praised Mayer post-fight. Two class acts that are a credit to their sport. Mayer will hope she will return. She should. Jonas will now target at least one more glory night. A three-weight world champion would be a nice way to sign out.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer