Natasha Jonas: “I was prepared to go to America last year to fight Mikaela. We’d agreed on it last time, so I have no issue with going over there to fight her.”

Natasha Jonas: “I was prepared to go to America last year to fight Mikaela. We’d agreed on it last time, so I have no issue with going over there to fight her.”

Although the rematch is not yet confirmed, Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan look set to run back that titanic fight from September of last year. A fight that consumed many things. Another bitter rivalry for Mayer in a battle that was laced with venom, controversy, and much more.

It was Mayer who took away the WBO world welterweight title from Ryan. A classic back-and-forth war that FightPost viewed as the Fight of the Year for 2024. A fight that Mayer deservedly edged on the cards after ten brutally savage rounds.

Natasha Jonas, who faces British rival Lauren Price in a big unification showdown on the latest Boxxer all-female extravaganza, and is more than in the running to face the winner of the Mayer Ryan rematch, believes her old foe will once again prevail if as heavily rumoured Mayer and Ryan do indeed run it back.

“I think it will be the same result, I think Mikaela will win again,” Jonas told me over Zoom. “I think when you have been in with someone, you realise the mistakes that you made. You know what worked and what didn’t. If I fought Mikaela again, I think it would be more convincing because I realised what I did wrong. But she’ll be thinking the same, of course. I just think the odds are stacked against Sandy. She didn’t have great odds going to America the first time, but now Mikaela is the champion, and Sandy is the challenger. She didn’t do enough last time, and she has to do even better this time to take back the belt.”

It’s been a difficult period of late for the unified IBF and WBC world welterweight champion. A frustrating two years that haven’t turned out the way Jonas would have wanted. But after her fight in March with the WBA bauble holder, Jonas will be free to pursue fights with the likes of Mayer and Katie Taylor. “When I beat Lauren, I am a free agent, so there is no rematch clause with Lauren.”

Jonas has more than one eye on whoever wins out of Mayer and Ryan, and if she beats Price at the Royal Albert Hall, she will be free from any remaining contractual obligations to chase the fights on any platform that she craves to close out her career. If Ryan gets revenge over Mayer, a rematch clause on the American side will likely trigger a third fight between the two bitter rivals, leaving Jonas potentially looking for options elsewhere. But a repeat win for Mayer, and if Jonas adds the WBA belt to her collection in March, would set up a possible undisputed clash between Jonas and Mayer later this year.

“I am interested in fighting the winner 100%,” Jonas told FightPost. “If I beat Lauren, my next fight, regardless of who it is, will be for undisputed, be it Mikaela or Katie Taylor. They are the fights that I want to finish my career. That’s what I wanted last year. So whoever offers me the most money, it makes no difference to me who it is because it will be for undisputed regardless.”

After Jonas beat Mayer in the early part of 2024, both fighters desperately wanted to fight again. They even took matters into their own hands to try and get the rematch over the line. Jonas had even agreed to fight on away soil before the politics of the sport prevented the fight from taking place and both fighters had to reluctantly go their separate ways. But if things play out in their favour in a couple of months time, Jonas is more than happy to fight Mayer on her home turf.

“I was prepared to go to America last year to fight Mikaela. We’d agreed on it last time, so I have no issue with going over there to fight her. I’ll just make sure the contract is right for me, I have no problems going to someone’s backyard to fight.”

The end is near for Natasha Jonas. There will be no 2026 for the boxing career of ‘Miss GB.’ The fight in March could be her last if Price inflicts the third defeat on the resume of the Liverpool fighter. But a win will give Jonas a significant last dance, with rematches with Taylor and Mayer as her preferred options. Despite all the frustrations of late, Jonas will still miss the sport when the gloves are finally hung up for good.

“I’ve had a good run regardless of the politics. When it goes bad, it’s ugly, and I moan. But of course, I will miss it, I missed it when I retired from the amateurs. It’s been a big part of my life for so long. But I will also be happy to sit on the other side, commenting on other people’s performances instead of my own.”   

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer