Queen Latifah’s classic song ‘Ladies first’ is a great way to explain the surge woman’s boxing has received in the last few years. At times woman’s fights were stuck on the undercard or most likely buried on the off-TV portion but that’s a thing of the past.
Friday night on live ESPN+, the main event between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer is a prime example of the leaps and bounds headlining the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Matching the rise in popularity, the skill level in many of these big women’s matchups has rapidly advanced as well.
Of late, Mayer has come up on the short side of close decisions in her biggest fights. Whether you believe she deserved to get her hand raised against Alycia Baumgarnder and Natasha Jonas is a different story. In both bouts, Mayer got off to semi-slow starts only to come on strong as the fight wore on. Jonas counter punched Mayer in the early goings and finished fairly strong.
Alyicia was leading their fight until her output decreased, appearing fatigued down the stretch. Versus Sandy Ryan, Mayer will need to be more efficient behind a jab when she applies pressure. At times, Mayer has been able to bully fighters with aggression. Now, in her second fight at the higher weight, she must be more strategic, leaning into her skills. Outpointing rather than bull rush is the path to victory or at least a wiser way to begin this fight.
Mayer should allow Sandy Ryan to be the aggressor or at least stand her ground and look counter punch using lateral movement. Ryan came on strong and dispatched Terri Harper early this year. Sandy had a new team backing her but it did take her a little bit to settle in. Prior to that bout, Ryan had a split-draw against Jessica McCaskill. Many in the boxing world thought Sandy had done enough to get her hand raised.
This boxing podcaster believes an all-around performance by Mikaela will get her over the hump in what should be a highly competitive main event. Mayer can use Ryan’s over-aggression and, at times, wild swinging combinations to her advantage. That said, Mayer tends to engage in a brawl, and sometimes boxers don’t break habits. The fans will win in this intriguing matchup of high-level boxers.
My Official Prediction is Mikaela Mayer by Split-Decision.
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Side Note: Also, on the card, Bruce Carrington is in a nice step against Sulaiman Segawa, along with Elvis Rodriguez, Xander Zayas, and Vito Mielnick Jr, among others, on ESPN. Plus Alycia Baumgardner vs. Delfine Persoon on Friday live on Brinx.TV
Weigh In Results:
(ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT)
• Sandy Ryan 146.6 lbs. vs. Mikaela Mayer 146.8 lbs
(Ryan’s WBO Welterweight World Title – 10 Rounds)
• Xander Zayas 153.4 lbs vs. Damian Sosa 153.6 lbs
(Zayas’ NABF and NABO Junior Middleweight Titles — 10 Rounds)
• Bruce Carrington 125.8 lbs vs. Sulaiman Segawa 123.8 lbs
(Carrington’s NABF and WBO Intercontinental and Segawa’s WBC Silver Featherweight Titles — 10 Rounds)
(ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT)
• Vito Mielnicki Jr. 153.8 lbs vs. Khalil El Harraz 152.4 lbs
(Junior Middleweight — 10 Rounds)
• Floyd Diaz 117.8 lbs vs. Mario Hernandez 117.2 lbs
(Bantamweight— 8 Rounds)
• Elvis Rodriguez 142.8 lbs vs. Kendo Castañeda 142 lbs
(Junior Welterweight — 10 Rounds)
• Tiger Johnson 140.8 lbs vs. Yomar Alamo 140.2 lbs
(Junior Welterweight — 8 Rounds)
• Rohan Polanco 143.4 lbs vs. Marcelino Lopez 143 lbs
(Welterweight — 10 Rounds)
Written by Chris Carlson, Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
