Mikaela Mayer Vs Vanessa Bradford

Ringside Report

By Joshua “City” Brewer

First thing first, don’t you just love social media at times? I’ll get back to that later. Mikaela Mayer, 7-0, 4 KO’s, is back in action taking on Vanessa Bradford, 4-0-2, 0 KO’s. This will be an eight round super featherweight bout on the undercard of the Top Rank promoted WBO world welterweight matchup between Terence “Bud” Crawford, making his first defense, and Jose Benavidez, JR. Back to the topic at hand, Mayer is one of the brightest stars in the world of women’s boxing. She’s a 2016 Olympian and garnered a lot of success through the amateur ranks.

Thus far in her career Mayer has been very successful against the competition she’s faced. One of the areas that always seems to come to tow when discussing women’s boxing is the depth within the different divisions. There aren’t as many females by comparison to the number of boxers in male divisions, which is expected in such a brutal sport. That said, there are those that have the qualities to take them the the levels of stardom that their male counterparts see when operating at the elite level.

Mayer is one of those individuals. As far as intangibles, she seems to have everything needed. Mayer walks, talks, and looks the part in-ring. Top Rank has done a great job of getting her on as many cards as they can to constantly expose her to the boxing audience, which works wonders for boxers early in their careers. This is evident by the fact that she’s already on her eight fight after turning professional just barely over a year ago.

This brings me back to the question of don’t you just love social media at times? I say this because the different platforms have taken athlete access to new levels. They’ve also brought about matchups by virtue of said athletes going back and forth over social media. This is awesome in the sense that you can essentially see fights build up and play out on a seemingly instantaneous basis. It doesn’t’ get any better than that in combat sports.

One of the more popular boxers on Showtime, Claressa Shields, recently tweeted something that essentially stuck. “Women boxers don’t understand that they are slowing down the progress of our sport by Not fighting each other Women’s boxing need a [sic] Anne Wolfe Vs Laila Ali fight!” Shields went on to suggest that a fight between her and Christina Hammer, Cecilia Braekhus, or Amanda Serrano would be the equivalent. She also suggest a fight between Ireland’s Katie Taylor and Mikaela Mayer would be on that level as well.

This, in fact, is the catalyst for this article. How awesome would a Katie Taylor Vs Mikaela Mayer fight be? Think about the implications for the sport in general. This would reach beyond women’s boxing as it’s essentially a good a matchup that can be made in the sport as a whole. Both are essentially one division apart with Taylor fighting at lightweight, and are all but on an eventual collision course with both being under the Top Rank banner.

As Shields was suggesting, boxing’s biggest stars fighting each other is what carries the sport. Now, there are a number of lesser known fighters within the divisions that both Mayer and and Taylor reside who are just as deserving of the spotlight and have the credentials to back it. That said, the pulse of boxing and it’s entertainment value relies upon the most popular fighters being the anchors for exposure. Taking that into account, Katie Taylor Vs Mikaela Mayer is great for the sport and there is no better time than to give them the shine

There are likely reasons as to why Top Rank wouldn’t want this fight to happen now but to the same token, there are reasons as to why it would be just as advantageous. Two undefeated—decorated fighters always produce a form of interest that only holds that direct semblance of value at an opportune time. The time is now. Their platform will be elevated and it will only make them and the sport better. Often times politics can get in the way of fights like this happening. We are now in a great place with boxing being widely available through a numbers of sources.

The likes Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano have done an excellent job of fighting the best as often as possible. This same tenacity seems to be rubbing off on the rest of the best women in boxing. If Mayer wins this Saturday, along with Taylor winning her upcoming fight, may the sport be graced with a fight with top-tier potential. With that, may the best woman win.