The boxing world is still a bit caught in its tracks in the aftermath of Daniel Dubois’ devastating knock-out victory over Anthony Joshua in Wembley Stadium, London last Saturday and as a result us boxing fans have slept on some of the upcoming big fights in the sport, not least the female bouts approaching this weekend. This Friday night the focus flips across the Atlantic Ocean, from London to New York and Atlanta respectively, as four of boxing’s female superstars return to action in highly anticipated fights. Let’s look ahead and make our predictions.
Sandy Ryan(c) vs Mikaela Mayer – WBO Women’s Welterweight World Championship – New York, New York, USA
This massively exciting fight has the feeling of a seasoned pro (Mayer) coming up against an overly excitable greenhorn who’s a little bit too self assured for after just a modest 10 professional fights(Ryan), but the intriguing peculiarity of this fight is that the younger Ryan is the defending champion. USA’s Mayer has been a world champion herself, a distinguished one at that, but she lost her titles in controversial circumstances two years ago to Alycia Baumgardner (more on her later). Since that loss Mayer has dusted herself down and got straight back on the road to world title shots. After two wins followed by a loss to a fellow former Olympian, Liverpudlian, Natasha Jonas, in a close-run fight, Mayer now finds herself faceing another Englishwoman on Friday night in New York. In Sandy Ryan she’ll be staring across the ring from a boxer who is younger, faster and stronger than Jonas. Ryan will also be buoyed from the added confidence that comes from being a world champion; she won the title last year and this fight will only be her second defense. Whatever way you slice and dice it, this is an extremely evenly matched fight between two women who can box with technical precision but also know how bang and bang hard when needed. It’s hard to pick a winner but we must give a predication and for this one we’re leaning towards the challenger, Mikaela Mayer.
Verdict: Mikaela Mayer PTS
Alycia Baumgardner(c) vs Delphine Persoon – WBC Women’s Super-featherweight World Championship – Atlanta, Georgia, USA
On the same night, just a few hours further south, another female boxing world title will be contested. The two fighters that will take to the ring in the main event in Atlanta have suffered adversity in forms of very different natures. WBC champion Alycia Baumgardner burst onto the professional boxing scene in a seemingly overnight manner just a few years ago, and despite not being a household name within the sport, there was no doubt about Baumgardner’s ability after she finished Terri Harper’s world title reign in brutal fashion, with Harper freezing while still on her feet in what was a very scary moment. Since then, Baumgardner went on to develop an intense rivalry against the aforementioned Mikaela Mayer. This feud culminated in an undisputed super-featherweight world title fight between the two US fighters, and after a nail-biting contest, Baumgardner was awarded the victory by the judges at ringside; it could have gone either way. As we all know now, Baumgardner subsequently failed a drug test in the aftermath of the fight and was suspended. Once again confirming that the implementation of the boxing rule book is a fluid process for the WBC, with some fighters being afforded looser interoperations of the guidelines than others, and in the spirit of such sentiments, Baumgardner kept her world title while sidelined. Friday’s opponent, Delphine Persoon, has her own boxing regrets wrestle. Her first fight against Katie Taylor rightfully should have been a famous victory for Persoon but the judges that night had different opinions. To her credit, Taylor, being the class act that she is, gave Persoon a rematch, the most a fighter can do, and proceeded to win it convincingly. Where Taylor struggled with Persoon in their first fight was the relentless pressure. The Belgian fighter has a style where she just keeps walking forward and swinging punches in a wild and frantic style that throws technically sound boxers off their rhythm due to its unorthodoxy. Baumgardner, despite all her power and athleticism, is a fighter that struggles to speed up through the gears and tends the spend fights at one pace regardless of how they’re going. This type of lethargy will play in to Persoon’s hands and could possibly see Baumgardner overwhelmed buy the sheer volume of attacks. A major question will be how much stamina does Persoon have today in 2024 to be able to replicate the tactics of the first Taylor fight? That was five years ago after all. Taking all variables into account, we’re going with the challenger again.
Verdict: Persoon PTS