One of the most heated rivalries in the history of women’s boxing adds another chapter to its saga this weekend when Mikaela Mayer defends her WBO world welterweight title against Sandy Ryan in a rematch between two of the sport’s elite.
The two will clash Saturday in the main event of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN: Mayer vs. Ryan 2 at BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) take the ring for their second fight since last September, when Ryan lost a split decision — and her WBO welterweight title — to Mayer. According to CompuBox statistics, Mayer landed 41% of her power punches compared to Ryan’s 37%. But the story of the first fight was more about what happened before the two fighters entered the ring.
Mayer and Ryan hurled insults at one another prior to the first showdown, and Ryan was struck by a can of red paint thrown by someone on the street on her way to Madison Square Garden for the fight. Ryan blamed Mayer and her team for the attack. They refuted the allegation.
Kay “Coach Kay” Koroma, who trained Mayer for most of her career, has since moved on to coach Ryan. In fact, Koroma trained Ryan for her first fight against Mayer and will be in Ryan’s corner again on Saturday.
In the co-feature, Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) will make the inaugural defense of his WBO world welterweight championship against Derrieck Cuevas. The challenger (27-1-1, 19 KOs) enters his first world title opportunity riding a four-fight knockout streak.
Also on the card:
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (14-0, 8 KOs) faces Jose Enrique Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.
Emiliano Fernando Vargas (12-0, 10 KOs) and Giovannie Gonzalez (20-7-2, 15 KOs) tangle in a junior welterweight clash scheduled for eight rounds.
Delante “Tiger” Johnson (14-0, 6 KOs) looks to stay undefeated against Kendo Castaneda (21-8, 9 KOs) in an eight-round welterweight bout.
Southpaw Emmanuel Chance, 18, makes his professional debut in a four-round bantamweight tussle against Miguel Guzman (1-0, 1 KO).
Junior lightweights Dedrick Crocklem (1-0, 1 KO) and Dionne Ruvalcaba (2-1, 1 KO) face off in a fight scheduled for four rounds.
Where can I watch the Mayer-Ryan 2 fight card?
Coverage begins Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Disney+. The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN & ESPN+.
Fans can catch all the action in the fight card’s streaming hub.
How can fans access more boxing content from ESPN?
Check out the ESPN boxing hub page for the latest news, features, schedules, rankings and more.
Source: espn.com