Mikaela Mayer painted the final brushstroke on a heated rivalry.
Mayer defended her WBO welterweight world title with a 10-round unanimous decision against bitter rival Sandy Ryan Saturday evening at BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Mayer (21-2, 5 KOs) used her jab and right hand to dictate the action in the opening stanza. The 2016 Olympian then buzzed Ryan (7-3-1, 3 KOs) with a left hook in the second round, which set the tone for the fight as Mayer looked to assert herself as the stronger and bigger fighter at welterweight with clean, punishing hooks.
Ryan found some success with right hands and uppercuts, particularly in the later rounds. A clash of heads in the eighth opened a cut over Mayer’s left eye, but it didn’t change the momentum.
Ryan tried to claw back late, but it wasn’t enough.
With scores of 97-93 twice and 98-92, Mayer put herself in line for a shot at the undisputed crown.
Mayer said, “I sat on my shots more and committed to my hooks more. Those hooks were coming over the top. Sandy tends to stand straight up. She comes forward and puts the pressure on. So we worked on chopping her down with those hooks over the top.”
“I had been needing to move to welterweight for a long time. So, when I finally did, it just took a good, solid year and a half of hard work. This is where I’m comfortable, and this is where I should have been.”
“I beat Sandy Ryan twice. Now it’s time for me to move on and go for undisputed, which is against Lauren Price.”
Norman Stops Cuevas to Retain Welterweight Title
Brian Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) waited 10 months to defend his world title, but he only needed 10 minutes.
The 24-year-old retained his WBO crown with a third-round TKO over Puerto Rican contender Derrieck Cuevas (27-2-1, 19 KOs).
The two traded bombs early, but the threat of each other’s power tempered the exchanges. Norman began pawing with the jab and digging to the body to create openings, and in round two, he buzzed Cuevas with a left hook that triggered a series of shots.
Another left hook in the third dropped Cuevas. He beat the count but failed to respond to referee Tom Taylor’s instructions, prompting the stoppage at 2:59.
Norman said, “I feel wonderful. I had a little ring rust to start off, but you saw that I shook that off real quick.”
“I was just getting back into it. I was out for 10 months. So, it was just about getting back into the field and being in front of everybody. As you saw, it wasn’t a struggle at all. Great opponent. Only has one defeat. And you saw what I did to him.”
“I want one of these {other} belts. I see them out here trying to make unification fights. Where’s my little piece at?”