Mikaela Mayer: The Road to Undisputed

Mikaela Mayer: The Road to Undisputed

Mikaela Mayer understands the pitfalls of boxing better than most. The sport never runs in straight lines. Mayer has had to take many detours in a career that has so far gathered world titles in three different weight divisions. The road to undisputed, which at one time seemed relatively straightforward, has now hit a little roadblock.

Mayer was potentially just one fight away from going undisputed at either welterweight or super-welterweight. The win over Mary Spencer in October was a successful move up to 154, winning the WBA, WBC, and WBO super-welterweight titles in just one fight. Only the IBF title, currently in the possession of her good friend Oshae Jones, remained. With Mayer also holding the WBO world welterweight bauble, and Lauren Price having the remaining 147 world titles, there was a strong possibility that in her first fight of 2026, Mayer would be fighting for undisputed status at either weight.

But Mayer will have to wait, and go down another route, as boxing always seems to do, that road to undisputed has got a little more complicated in recent times. The American has had to relinquish her WBO 154 title, and with Price wanting a tune-up before she fights Mayer, the three-division world champion will likely have to settle for a defence of her WBO welterweight title before thoughts turn back to going undisputed.

The fight with Lauren Price is the shortest route to Mayer having the full collection in a particular weight class. The winner would have a complete set of world titles. But despite several offers being made to the Mayer camp, and reports elsewhere saying a deal is close for a fight in Wales later this year, I am of the understanding that is not the case. They are somewhere apart on the financial side, and after losing highly controversial decisions previously on UK soil, you would presume that Mayer wouldn’t come to Cardiff without the safety net of a rematch clause. “There is a way to get me to Wales to fight Lauren Price, and it is a big number,” Mayer told me in November. It would appear that number hasn’t yet been reached.

Alongside the money side of the deal, I am told that there are also differences surrounding the actual date and location of the proposed fight. The Mayer team would prefer the fight to be in America, or alternatively, a more neutral UK venue like London or Manchester.

An undisputed fight at welterweight between Mikaela Mayer and Lauren Price is the fight to make. Both fighters want it, and you sense at some point, a two-fight deal will be reached between the two parties. But that is far from guaranteed as it stands now.

Mayer will not wait forever. She is seemingly the fighter with have more options available to her, especially when Top Rank finally announces their new TV deal. Price is undoubtedly a massive draw in Wales, but is she anywhere else? Does Price need Mayer more than Mayer needs her? Ben Shalom and Boxxer might have to dig very deep, especially if they want it in Cardiff.

It’s easy to envisage Mayer looking elsewhere for the big fights that she demands of herself. The Alycia Baumgardner feud will probably never fade away, and a fight at 140 with Chantelle Cameron ticks many boxes. Don’t be surprised if Mayer tries to win a world title in a fourth weight division. Outside of Mayer, what is out there for Lauren Price? Routine defences of her world titles are unlikely to satisfy her lofty ambitions. She will hope the numbers move in the right direction to get her the fight with Mayer. If Price wants to elevate her profile and career, she might need Mayer to do that. That will come at a price.

But in the short-term, Mayer and Price will defend their respective world welterweight titles in the spring, before hopefully, a fight for all the belts in the summer. As the old quite says, good things come to those who wait, but we really shouldn’t have had to. The hope is that it does come.