Mikaela Mayer vs. Sandy Ryan: The Rematch Edges Ever Closer

Mikaela Mayer vs. Sandy Ryan: The Rematch Edges Ever Closer

It was perhaps always inevitable that Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan would fight again. The rivalry was still very much alive. Talk of an old Mayer trainer doing the double-dip started the venom. But it soon morphed into something a little bit more. The red paint controversy pre-fight. What Mayer and Ryan served up inside that New York ring. It was, in many ways, unfinished business. At the time of writing, the odds are that both fighters will now get the opportunity to settle their differences.

FightPost reported on the 24th December that the Mayer team was going to try and make the rematch with Ryan. As of last week, I was of the belief that the fight was nearly done. FightPost now understands that the rematch between Mayer and Ryan is now moving ever closer to being signed, sealed, and delivered. Unless we get a tale of the unexpected, the return meeting will take place on March 29th in Las Vegas. I am also of the understanding that Mayer has a rematch clause, should Ryan even the score in their second meeting, which again will be the main event on a Top Rank show. But Ryan once again enters the fight without the comfort of a rematch clause.

The first meeting was a Fight of the Year contender. Ten brutally savage rounds that Mayer edged deservedly on the cards and made herself a two-weight world champion in the process. But the battle for the WBO welterweight bauble was scarred somewhat by Ryan being covered in red paint as she left the fight hotel as she was preparing to go to the arena. The British fighter could easily have pulled out, but Ryan decided to go ahead with the fight, and the two bitter rivals delivered something truly special in a relentless back-and-forth war.

This observer had Mayer winning the fight, but accusations of local bias were an obvious narrative post-fight for some. Mayer strongly disputes this accusation, believing that she won the fight fair and square.

“Some might say my win over Sandy Ryan was a hometown decision. It wasn’t, and I will do it even better next time,” Mayer told me after the fight. “She was walking into everything. So I knew I was up on the cards. I like the fact that people thought that Sandy would bully me and make me crumble. It made me want to prove them wrong. I always knew what would happen.”

But with the feud still ongoing, it always had the look of a fight that just had to be run back, especially with substantial money still being left on the table. Close to a million viewers tuned in last time. You’d suspect, even more will do so the second time around.

A win for Ryan would set up a third meeting with Mayer. But a repeat win for the American would put her in prime position to chase the winner of Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price, who will also fight in March. Without any rematch clauses in play for that big all-British unification showdown, Mayer could end the year with a fight for undisputed status at welterweight. A win for Jonas in London would set Mayer up for the second rematch of her career. Another Jonas/Mayer meeting would also be the easier fight to make with the Liverpool fighter already stating her willingness to fight Mayer in America, and Jonas will also be free from any remaining Boxxer contractual obligations after her fight with Price. March looks like being a pivotal month for the welterweight ranks. And for women’s boxing.

Photo Credit: YP Lim/Top Rank