Top Rank Announces Mikaela Mayer-Alycia Baumgardner
Though they don’t have a date/site as of yet, an intriguing women’s junior lightweight unification bout is on deck. This, as WBO/IBF titleholder Mikaela Mayer will take on WBC champ Alycia Baumgardner later this year.
Top Rank made the announcement Monday afternoon and both fighters confirmed the fight with messages on their own social media shortly after,
👑 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 👑 @MikaelaMayer1 x @AlyciamBaum
The true queen of the 130-pound division will be crowned 🔜 pic.twitter.com/PUw6zSYv9K
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 23, 2022
“Top Rank has secured the rights to the Mayer-Baumgardner title unification showdown, which will take place in late summer/early fall. Date, venue, and ticket information will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Mikaela Mayer’s prodigious talent is only matched by her tremendous ambition,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “She wants the biggest fights, and Alycia Baumgardner is a worthy champion. This is a huge event and one of the most anticipated matchups in women’s boxing.”
Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) is a Los Angeles native who represented the U.S. at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She became WBO world champion in October 2020 with a one-sided decision over Ewa Brodnicka. Last November 5, she unified the WBO and IBF titles with a toe-to-toe barnburner against Maiva Hamadouche in the consensus Female Fight of the Year. The 10-round unanimous decision also earned Mayer the Ring Magazine belt.
Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) burst onto the scene eight days after Mayer defeated Hamadouche. She traveled to Sheffield, England, and stunned British standout Terri Harper via fourth-round TKO to win the WBC title. She made her first title defense April 16 with a shutout decision over former unified world champion Edith Soledad Matthysse.”
Baumgardner, who is promoted by Matchroom Boxing, has been calling out Mayer since the Harper win and it appears that Top Rank and Eddie Hearn’s promotion have worked out having the bout held and televised in prime time in the U.S.
Mayer is the only significant female fighter under the Top Rank umbrella and made history last year, when she became the first female to headline a main event show for now.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
