Mikaela Mayer: Leverage & Redemption

Mikaela Mayer: Leverage & Redemption

Mikaela Mayer was a fighter on edge as the chaos and the rigours of Fight Week had finally wound down. While her opponent Natasha Jonas was about as relaxed as I’ve ever seen a fighter with the first bell so close in a major fight, Mayer had a different look.

Mayer knew she had to win. A quiet, frustrating year away from the bright lights of the main event in 2023 had left the former unified world super-featherweight champion, knowing her career couldn’t afford another reversal. Jonas was a picture of calm, seemingly without any pressure on her shoulders. Mayer was the complete opposite. She knew the pressure was on. Her demeanour told us that.

A stripped-down ‘entourage’ had accompanied the American to Liverpool. Places on her team were earned and warranted on her fourth visit to UK soil in just fifteen months. Mayer was all business for her fight with the hometown hero with the IBF world welterweight title, the prize for whoever had their hand raised at the M&S Arena. An old iconic building that felt more than a few degrees colder than even the baltic conditions outside that had been in play for the past week or so.

There were few smiles as I briefly saw Mayer in her changing room around ninety minutes before her latest moment of truth. Maybe not only thinking of what was to come but also what had already gone. The memories and the scars of fifteen months ago when her career suddenly lost its upward trajectory might have come to mind once again as the first bell edged closer and closer last Saturday night. A bitterly painful night in London that left Mayer wondering what two of the three judges actually saw. Was Mayer thinking would it happen all over again, I wondered. A fighter has power in their fists. But the greater power often lies elsewhere. Mayer knew she could only do and control so much, and then she just had to hope and pray that the judges this time would see it her way. Mayer very soon would find out that history would indeed repeat itself.

The Beatles timeless Love Me Do and the harmless pantomime boos from the hometown locals accompanied Mayer into the Liverpool ring. Those boos soon subsided to respect and so much more. Two fighters who probably left a piece or two of themselves in that ring.

The American gave everything. And probably a little bit more. Jonas and Mayer served up one of the greatest female fights of all time and one that was decided by wafer-thin margins. As the famed scribe Donald McRae might have written, it was a ceaseless percussion of punches, played out to a constant booming chorus from the Jonas faithful.

The Liverpool fighter edged it on the cards. A touch of relief in the Jonas camp. A far greater dose of despair in the opposite corner. The eyes of Mayer closed when Jonas was announced as the narrow winner by a hotly-disputed split decision. Her thoughts must have flickered back to another night when her hand wasn’t raised and thought, “Not again.” Once again, controversy raged. But as before, the fury would change nothing. But Mayer yet again had the sympathy of the masses. Two defeats on her record, when many will think she should have none.

Even in victory and in full celebration mode, Jonas would still have had sympathy and compassion with the fighter she had just shared twenty scintillating brutal minutes with. She has been where Mayer is right now, remember. The American could do a lot worse than looking at Jonas for inspiration in coming back from not getting a decision that she strongly feels should have gone her way. Jonas did. Mayer can also. Time and opportunity are all she needs.

Mayer talked pre-fight about needing that IBF bauble for leverage. But even in defeat, Mayer still has some leverage. She will still be a fighter in demand. The American hoped the phone would still ring. Mayer didn’t need to worry for too long on that score. It already has. A tentative preliminary enquiry. An old rivalry resurrected. A newer one revisited. Mayer knows she will be back. The only question is where. A little slice of comfort for Mayer when she must have wondered if she would ever get another chance on the big stage again.

There will be changes made. With loyalty, the absolute key to those changes. In truth, it will be demanded. Mayer has shown over time that she isn’t afraid to ring the changes. She undoubtedly will do so again. The manner and quality of her performance against Jonas has almost certainly encouraged others to come knocking for her services. Hopefully, Mayer will have a number of offers to consider. She deserves to decide her next move. In many ways, it shouldn’t be forced upon her.

Mayer has come a long way in her life. The once troublesome teenage rebel without a cause, found boxing, and then set about changing her life. There have been many twists and turns along the way. Olympic disappointment in 2016. That shattering heartbreaking loss to her most heated rival Alycia Baumgardner six years later that left her in a state of grief. But the highs far outweigh the lows. The defeats to Baumgardner and Jonas will not define her. Or deter her.

Another visit to her adopted fighting home will surely follow later this year. Maybe as soon as April. London may well be her calling once again. But wherever Mikaela Mayer lands in England, there will be a world title up for grabs. She will hope that lady luck shines on her next time. Many will argue that luck shouldn’t have come into the previous two world title fights Mayer has had in the UK. Mayer still has leverage. Now, she wants redemption.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer