Mikaela Mayer: “They will have to pay me some big bucks for me to fight Lauren Price in Wales.”

Mikaela Mayer: “They will have to pay me some big bucks for me to fight Lauren Price in Wales.”

There was a time when the phone didn’t ring. A time when Mikaela Mayer was without a world title. A fighter who was deemed high risk and no reward. But that victory over Sandy Ryan last September changed everything for Mayer.

Mayer beat Ryan in one of the greatest female fights of all time. A scintillating pulsating twenty minutes that earned the American the WBO world welterweight bauble. A win that gave her leverage. It also made her, in fight terms, a wanted woman.

Lauren Price, courtesy of her win over Natasha Jonas earlier this month, is now in possession of every other world welterweight title. The missing piece of her collection is the WBO title that Mayer currently holds. In simple terms, Price now wants Mayer.

“I think we all felt it might have been a little more competitive than what it was,” Mayer says of the fight between Price and Jonas. “Natasha just seemed to be waiting too long, with her hands high in the defensive position. I don’t know if her body was telling her she didn’t have it anymore, or if Lauren just threw her out of her game plan. Lauren was the faster fighter, and her movement really got to Natasha. I gave Lauren the edge on movement before the fight, and she did that. She executed her game plan very well, and Natasha just couldn’t find her. There wasn’t enough aggression. You can’t outbox a southpaw who is constantly moving. You have to press them.

“I don’t think Lauren is better than I thought. She boxed exactly how I thought she would. I think it was more of Natasha not having the right game plan.”

Despite the impressive nature of her victory over Jonas, Mayer firmly believes that she has the style and the know-how to become the first fighter to beat Price as a professional.

“I wouldn’t have the same game plan that Natasha had,” Mayer told FightPost. “With someone like Lauren, the game plan is so important. You have to be disciplined and stick to that game plan. She has that amateur pedigree, and it’s won her that gold medal. It’s a difficult style to beat if you don’t know how, or if you don’t have the experience or the right person in your corner. I have the experience, and I would I would go in there with a smart game plan to beat Lauren. But we’ll see, I have to get through Sandy one more time.”

Almost as soon as Price was crowned the unified world welterweight champion, her thoughts turned to Mayer. The former Olympic Champion wants to return home for a hometown fight. You sense an undisputed fight with Mayer would be the type of major fight that Ben Shalom and Boxxer would love to secure for a future fight night in Wales.

“They will have to pay me some big bucks for me to fight Lauren Price in Wales,” Mayer says of if she would be interested in being in the opposite corner for that homecoming fight. “I just don’t see Ben Shalom doing that. I’ve done that before, but at this stage in my career, it needs to be in a somewhat neutral venue. I am not opposed to going back to the UK, but money talks. If they come to me with the right offer, then we’ll think about it. But I want to make that fight happen for sure. Once I get through Sandy, that is the next fight on my list. I have no problem having the conversation.”

Price wants the winner of this month’s rematch between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan. Price believes Mayer will win again. If she wants that undisputed fight before the year ends, she will have to hope that Mayer does repeat her victory from last September. If Ryan wins, the two bitter rivals will be contractually obligated to go again.

“I have protected myself this time,” Mayer says. “I have the rematch clause. I don’t expect to have to use it, but you never know in boxing. It’s there if I need it.”

Mayer and Ryan will move their beyond-intense rivalry from New York to Las Vegas on March 29th. For both, it’s a chance to remove all doubt.

Mayer and Kofi Jantuah are now approaching the end of their second camp together. A partnership formed after all the red-hot drama surrounding long-time Mayer associate Kay Koroma leaving the fold to join forces with Ryan. A move that planted the seed of their sizzling rivalry.

“It’s been a really good training camp,” Mayer relayed to me. “It’s been a hard training camp. It’s been a long training camp. I’ve been in the gym since that last fight, and I’m really working on things with Kofi. I’m really settling into my welterweight body. I am going to be a lot stronger this time, and I will make sure Sandy doesn’t think she can bully me. When I won the opening half of the last fight, Sandy tried to sit down and outmuscle me. She won’t be able to do that this time.

“I really want to make it a lot clearer this time. Just go in there and fix a few things I could have done better. If I hit Sandy with the same shots as last time, it will be different. I’m turning a lot more into my shots now. I can really feel that in the gym.”

“Oh yeah,” adds when I ask if Jantuah has added more power to her game. “That’s the kind of fighter Kofi was. He was a puncher. Coach Al (Mitchell) is in camp, making sure I stick to my style, boxing, and moving. But the way Kofi is teaching me, I have never seen anything like it. He really is an amazing coach. I’m definitely learning so much and getting better every day. I feel so good that I’m still learning at this stage of my career.”

Mayer has achieved so much in her career. A former Olympian and a medallist at the 2012 World Amateur Championships, a former unified world super-featherweight champion. Only two highly controversial defeats to Alycia Baumgardner and Natasha Jonas spoil her professional resume. Arguably, Mayer should still be undefeated. But despite those lofty achievements, Mayer still wants more.

“You never feel as though you have accomplished enough. I have been doing this for so long, but the biggest fights of my career are still ahead of me. This is the year I can close that chapter of going undisputed. I am so grateful that I am back in this position. I don’t want it to slip away again. I know what that feels like. This is my second chance. After that, all new doors will open for me. in 2026, we will have to come up with even more goals. It will be a busy couple of years.”

Mayer has always chased that rematch with Baumgardner. A recent offer to run it back was declined by Baumgardner. But possible fights with Claressa Shields and Chantelle Cameron could be in her future.

“All three of those are really big fights for me. We’ll see how things pan out. We’ll see if Alycia wants the rematch. She’s with Jake Paul now. He might think that’s a really good fight. But Alycia and Amanda Serrano could have a really big fight as well. Claressa is still working on coming down from heavyweight. We all have a busy year ahead of us. But next year we’ll see.”

At 34, Mayer is convinced her prime is still ahead of her. A win over Ryan sets up those lucrative seismic fights with the likes of Price, Baumgardner, Cameron, and of course Claressa Shields. It’s fair to say that retirement isn’t in her thoughts.

“Back in the day, I always thought I would be done at 35,” Mayer told me. “But since Kofi has come into my team, I feel as though I am elevating my game and getting better. I feel I am growing as a fighter, especially now I am not cutting weight anymore. I am feeling strong, and I still feel I have a lot to give. So I am going to do it for as long as I feel good.”     

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer & Top Rank