American champion Mikaela Mayer insists there is “no denying” women boxing before her super-featherweight unification fight against Alycia Baumgardner on Saturday night.
Mayer and Baumgardner are part of an all-female undercard for Savannah Marshall’s undisputed middleweight clash against Claressa Shields at London’s O2 Arena.
With women’s boxing booming after struggling for decades, Mayer says female fighters are “here to stay”.
“For the longest time we didn’t have that ability to compete at the highest level, but now that we do there’s just no denying us,” she said.
“Most of the world didn’t ever believe women’s boxing would get to this level and have this kind of exposure and hype — but I did.
“I really truly believed that somehow, someway this is what I would be doing with my career and this is the level I would get to.”
Mayer, who holds the WBO, IBF and Ring magazine super-featherweight titles, is the chief support alongside Baumgardner for Shields v Marshall.
It is the UK’s first all-female fight card and the first time two female fighters have headlined at the O2. Unbeaten in 17 fights, Mayer has fought her entire pro career in the US.
But the former Olympian jumped at the chance to join forces with Shields and Marshall and make her debut in the UK as a pro. She is also planning a very English walk-out after receiving a personal message from Spice Girls’ Mel C.
“I am definitely walking out to a Spice Girls song. I cannot fight in the UK for the first time [without, it has] got to be Spice Girls,” she said.
“I would love if one of them came to the fight.”
Mayer’s unification fight with domestic rival Baumgardner would normally have headlined its own show. Mayer is considered one of the best female fighters in the world alongside the likes of undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and has huge ambitions to build her profile even more. When she signed with Top Rank in 2017, Mayer was the American promotional company’s first female fighter in almost 20 years.
“I do have visions for my future. I want to go undisputed,” Mayer explained. “[After that] I’m going up, I’m going to 135lbs. I’ve said I want to challenge myself against Katie Taylor. She’s been at the top of her game since I even started boxing.
“I want to test myself against her. I believe I can beat her. I believe it would be a great fight and I believe she would be up for the challenge.”
