All eyes will be on the O2 Arena on October 15 as women’s boxing takes center stage. In the main event, Claressa Shields will look to defeat Savannah Marshall and avenge her only amateur loss. Alongside Shields and Mayer, Alycia Baumgardner and Mikaela Mayer will square off in a highly-anticipated super-featherweight title unification bout.
Similar to the main event, there is no love lost in this super featherweight title bout. For months, Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner have traded insults in person and on social media. During a recent interview, Mayer continued to pick at Baumgardner’s amateur resumé and pro experience.
“She thinks she’s being disrespected but it’s just true. She was never on the national team with me or a training camp when they brought in the number three and four, I’d never heard of her. That’s not me hating that’s me telling you guys the facts. I’m very surprised that she’d had 165 amateur fights because I’d never heard of her,” Mayer told Sky Sports.
“I’m not hating. I say you haven’t fought anyone in the pros – look at her [on] Boxrec. The girls that she’s knocked out, [most of them] have a losing record. Most of the people on her resume have a losing record. I don’t think she’s been tested. If that’s all the fights she could get, fine, but the point is you haven’t been tested the way that I’ve been tested.”
Unsurprisingly, Baumgardner is undeterred by Mayer’s remarks and believes that she will have her hand raised on Saturday.
“People are still doubting me but this is part of the sport,” she told Sky Sports.
“My mindset is to win. My mindset is to have a dominating performance and my hand will be raised.”
