Mikaela Mayer seems to be in the 135-pound category.
The 130-pound former heavyweight boxer, making his debut in the heavier weight category, edged late substitute Lucy Wildheart for a unanimous decision win in 10 rounds on the Joe Joyce-Zhilei Zhang card on Saturday in London. .
The official scores are 100-90, 98-92 and 98-92. Boxing Junkie scored 99-91, nine innings.
Wildheart (10-2, 4 KOs) was in a 24 hour pre-announced match when Christina Linardatou had her card removed after she failed an eye test.
The Swede played the game and had her moments, right-handed landings that caught the eye with consistency. However, she was overtaken by Mayer, who spurred the action and threw more punches than her opponent.
The 2016 US Olympic athlete rushed in very early, which set the tone and kept the lower Wildheart away. And then, when they entered the head-to-head fight, Mayer was the one with the upper hand in the exchanges. She connects powerful blows to both the head and body almost at will.
Mayer landed 236 of 592 punches (40%), according to CompuBox. Wildheart is 131 out of 462 (28%).
“She walked in at the last minute,” Mayer said of Wildheart. “She was so brave to fight a big fight, jumping in 24 hours in advance. She is strong and persistent. I understand why she has the confidence to do it.”
They battled for the vacant “provisional” WBC title, bringing Mayer close to surrender to face undisputed 135-pound champion Katie Taylor.
Taylor is scheduled to face Chantelle Cameron on May 20 and is expected to face Amanda Serrano in a rematch afterwards. However, that’s who Mayer was aiming for.
“That was really exciting for me,” Mayer said. “This is where I belong. I belong in the big fights, I belong in the title fights. I’m in my prime. I feel so good.
“I want the hardest challenge possible. And right now, at 135 pounds, that’s Katie Taylor.”
