Mayer Says Beating Alycia Baumgardner Improves her Pound for Pound Stock
On September 10, unified women’s junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) will battle WBC 130-pound champ Alycia Baumgardner (12-0, 7 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, England in a unification showdown.
Mayer views herself as a pioneer and trailblazer for contemporary female fighters. She came up in the amateurs with Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor, who have become highly successful, multiple-time champions as professionals. During an interview on The DAZN Boxing Show, the unified champ explained how female boxers benefit from the struggle that she and others went through years ago. One of the fighters she made a point to name as a beneficiary: her upcoming opponent.
PAVING THE WAY
“Fortunately for Baumgardner, us women have built the game so much that she was able to come out of nowhere, be a champion, and then come into the biggest payday of her life.
She’s in this position because of the people who have done the groundwork: me, Claressa Shields, and Katie Taylor. She hasn’t done any of that. This girl is getting the biggest payday of her life after doing nothing for this sport.”
The interesting sidebar is that this grudge match is on the undercard of the women’s middleweight unification clash between unified champion Claressa Shields and WBO champ Savannah Marshall. Mayer – Baumgardner is a fight good and marketable enough to be the main event on a separate card. But as Mayer explained, there is a greater incentive.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
“I had the choice to be the co-main event for Claressa versus Marshall. If I didn’t want to do this, we wouldn’t do it; we would have our own main event. Yes, me versus Baumgardner, it’s definitely main event worthy.
But I was excited when they brought it up to me as a possibility. I thought it would be an amazing card for women’s boxing and the fans. It’s a one-stop shop for two world championship fights.
[…] That’s what I’m about, setting a new standard, giving the fans the fights they want and the fights they deserve. So, this excited me. I said: hell yes, let’s make it happen.”
The stakes are high. For the two 130-pound champions, it’s the biggest fight of their careers up to this point. It’s no secret they do not like each other. Baumgardner is arguably the biggest puncher in the division and poses a serious threat. However, Mayer is fully confident of victory. She feels that a win takes her to an even higher plateau.
NEXT-LEVEL
“When I beat Baumgardner, I think I definitely deserve a jump in the pound for pound list. It doesn’t make me undisputed, but it moves me past (Amanda) Serrano. I think it puts me at least one spot higher, number three. Then when I beat (WBA champ) Choi, if I can get that fight in a timely manner […] I think that bumps me up to number one. 130 is a very stacked division.”
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By: Michael Wilson Jr.
