Mikaela Mayer won her first world title back on Oct. 31, beating Ewa Brodnicka to claim the WBO junior lightweight title in Las Vegas, and continues to set her sights on full unification in what she rightly believes is one of the best — if not the best — divisions in women’s boxing.
The 30-year-old Mayer laid out a plan in a conversation with ESPN, saying that while she wants WBC titlist Terri Harper first, she also doesn’t want to wait for Harper to recover from a hand surgery, and would be fine to face IBF titlist Maiva Hamadouche, while Harper and WBA titleholder Hyun Mi Choi are likely to fight next.
Mayer tells ESPN she expects she would beat Hamadouche and Harper would beat Choi, leaving them to decide all four belts later this year. Matchroom have Harper, Choi, and Hamadouche under contract, while Mayer is of course with Top Rank.
Mayer (14-0, 5 KO) and Hamadouche (22-1, 18 KO) could make for a terrific fight if the two sides could work that out. Mayer is the better-schooled technical boxer on paper, but Hamadouche can punch and has a nasty streak to her that could make things fun (or be her total undoing against a superior technician). Harper-Choi could also be a really enjoyable fight. And any combination of the winners could make for a really nice undisputed title clash, too.
It’s a nice situation, really. Lots of good fights to be made here.
Mayer also says that if she just can’t get a unification next — which she really wants — she’d want to fight one of the better Americans in the division, naming veteran Heather Hardy (22-1, 4 KO) as a potential opponent. Hardy actually has never fought above 126 and is coming off of a tough beating in Sept. 2019 against Amanda Serrano. Mayer also mentioned Alycia Baumgardner (9-1, 6 KO).
The full Mayer article is a good read, certainly recommended. She’s a very determined fighter who really wants to get the biggest fights she can, really wants to be part of this push to make women’s boxing bigger and better.