Natasha Jonas vs. Mikaela Mayer: A Rematch On The Edge

Natasha Jonas vs. Mikaela Mayer: A Rematch On The Edge

A rivalry with respect. In many ways, one that has another chapter to write. Maybe, even two.

It was a hometown gig in January that left Jonas still the IBF welterweight champion of the world. A titanic affair in that city that she calls home. It was a fight in that old Liverpool Arena that once had a different name on the door. It will probably always be called or remembered as the ‘Echo’ irrespective of what sponsors currently reside on the walls of that almost mythical colosseum that typifies the fighting city that surrounds it. A pugilistic theatre that has many a story to tell.

Jonas and Mayer danced quite brilliantly there just over four months ago. A brutal twenty minutes that was decided by wafer-thin margins. Jonas celebrated a famous win. Her best win. While Mayer was desolate, if not broken, at a second points reversal that could have easily gone her way.

It was a decision that split the judges. And the whole boxing fraternity. The voices were loud that Mayer had been robbed of a rightful victory. The cries from the Mayer camp backstage were loud. But the American has been here before. She knows that nothing will change no matter how loud the alleged robbery drums are banged.

Mayer had a far greater case for claims of a robbery on the night that Alycia Baumgardner took her unified world super-featherweight baubles and so much more back in 2022. That gut-wrenching defeat did leave Mayer broken. A long, painful period of grief followed before Mayer found hope again. But that rematch with her fellow American never materialised. She will hope history doesn’t repeat history. Jonas will say a little prayer also.

Both Jonas and Mayer only have eyes for each other. A simple fight to make is turning out to be anything but. Despite the wishes of both to do it all over again.

“I took the risk to fight Mikaela as a voluntary defence because I wanted to test myself, even though she was very high risk. But I am not scared to take that risk again,” Jonas told me a few days after her victory over Mayer in Liverpool.  

The fight was seemingly locked in just over a month ago. Terms were agreed. June 15th was the intended date. A Boxxer PPV was planned. Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde were to headline a card with four other major fights alongside it to justify the PPV tag. And no doubt, the wages of all involved.

But when Buatsi and Yarde came and went without reward, the PPV label went with it. Unfortunately, the rematch with Jonas and Mayer was another victim of those talks between Buatsi and Yarde breaking down. The loss of the potential PPV revenue was apparently the reason for Jonas and Mayer not being on that London card in June.

But the rematch was too good to let go. Or so we hope. Jonas and Mayer both want to run it back. All options are now being explored to salvage a fight that has unfinished business written all over it. It is also smart business. A fact seemingly lost on some.

Talks have been ongoing. They have progressed well. It just needed signing off by the powers that be. A potential date in July was firmly in play. But that now looks fragile at best. Future options are now the sticking point. But money upfront earns that right.

It wouldn’t be another hometown gig for Jonas. In many ways, a night on away soil could have been next for the reigning IBF welterweight champion. But there is still work to do. Probably, too much.

Mayer was already in camp for the planned June date. The delay won’t have changed much. At least not with her mindset. Other changes will be made. Not everything will be the same when Mayer returns.

“If Tasha fights me the way she fought me last time, she will lose. I think Tasha knows deep down who won the first fight.” The words of Mayer who wants revenge and leverage.

Mayer lost very little in that fight in January.

“It still felt like I was in a good position because I put in such a great performance. I won so many new fans. People were impressed. I am new to the division, but they know I am still a big fight. I have built my name to the point where I am still a big payday for anyone in this division. People still want to see me fight. So it didn’t really feel like a setback to me,” Mayer told me.

FightPost understands that the signs were initially good that Jonas and Mayer would finally have a deal to run it back in July. A complicated deal of many moving parts that is still to found its end game. An end game that now sadly looks like ending with both fighters moving on without each other.

Another visit to the UK awaited Mayer. The fifth consecutive fight on English soil for a fighter who wants to cement her legacy with fights against the upper echelons of her chosen sport.

At 39, Jonas is now in the twilight period of her career. Two more fights at the most you suspect is all she has left. The final year in a sport that hasn’t always been kind to her. But Jonas has enjoyed her time of late. At one time, a world title was always seemingly destined to elude her. But those days are now long behind her. A two-weight world champion now wants to put the finishing touches to her own resume. A little bit more shine to a career that she has salvaged from the depths of despair.

A repeat win over Mayer will give her a little bit more tinsel. The right to pick her farewell opponent will come with a second win over Mayer. But Mayer will have other ideas. A win could give her a trilogy with Jonas or Lauren Price. Mayer, of course, will want both. And more.

Both fighters are a credit to their craft. They made the first fight almost inevitable. The willingness to trade blows made it an easy fight to make. The rematch, if the deal is finally signed, sealed and delivered, they will have played their part again. Maybe even more so. Many, including the two fighters, will be left thinking why it took so long. The hope is that wait is worth the wait. The hope is that wait ends in an actual fight. But that hope now looks extremely remote.

The rematch hands by a thread. The clock is ticking. The next few days are crucial. Jonas and Mayer deserve better. Why is everything so hard in a sport that should be defined by its simplicity? Why leave money on the table? Boxing always finds a way it seems. To disappoint. We live in the hope that a solution can be found. But that now appears extremely unlikely. In many ways, a missed opportunity.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer