Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche will meet in a 130 lb title unification fight on Friday, Nov. 5, and ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein reports that it will be a main event fight on ESPN+ in Las Vegas.
WBO titleholder Mayer (15-0, 5 KO) has served as chief support on Top Rank/ESPN cards in most of her recent outings, with her 2020 “bubble” bout against Helen Joseph turning into a makeshift main event on late notice. She’s also enhanced her profile by serving as a commentator and analyst — and a good one — and keeps herself active on social media, too.
Hamadouche (22-1, 18 KO), who holds the IBF title, just competed at the Tokyo Olympics, losing her first fight against eventual bronze medalist Mira Potkonen of Finland. Hamadouche displayed her usual aggression in the bout, but three-round fights are not to her advantage. She felt she’d done enough to win that, but at any rate, the Frenchwoman remains a very intriguing matchup stylistically for Mayer, and vice versa. This is a really good fight.