Mikaela Mayer wants to unify the super-featherweight division but is willing to move up in weight if that opportunity doesn't materialise; watch Mayer defend her WBO and IBF titles against Jennifer Han live on Sky Sports Action in the early hours of Sunday morning from 2am
Tuesday 5 April 2022 11:38, UK
Super-featherweight world champion Mikaela Mayer says she would be willing to move up in weight to take on the winner of Katie Taylor's undisputed clash with Amanda Serrano.
Mayer, 31, will defend her WBO and IBF belts in her hometown of California against former world champion Jennifer Han this weekend, with live coverage on Sky Sports from 2am on Sunday morning.
While Mayer, who also holds the Ring Magazine title for her division, is keen for unification bouts with WBA champion Hyun Mi Choi and WBC belt holder Alycia Baumgardner, she says she will not wait around at the 130lbs limit if those fights can't be made swiftly.
"I thought I would be undisputed already," Mayer told Sky Sports News. "I'm not going to lie. I've been wanting to get these fights done.
"It has been a little tricky. After (Maiva) Hamadouche I wanted to unify with Choi and Baumgardner. There's no reason in my mind why those fights shouldn't happen right away.
"Right now I'm in the prime of my career, so as much as I wanted to go undisputed at 130, I'm not going to sit around and wait. I'm going to take the fights that come to make, take the offers for the biggest fights I can possibly get - if that requires going up to 135 sooner than I wanted, then that's what I'm going to do.
"If I can come back down, then great. But I'm going to have to take it one fight at a time right now, because I do want the biggest fights."
Ireland's undisputed lightweight world champion Taylor takes on seven-weight world champion Serrano in a New York later this month, with that division just one above Mayer's.
"I would love to fight Katie Taylor," Mayer said. "That has always been on my list.
"I would obviously love to take on a fight with her or the winner of Taylor vs Serrano, whoever comes out on top. I think that either one of those girls would be a great fight for me and a great fight to have on my résumé.
"I have so many great fights at 135 and 140 I want to challenge myself at."
Mayer made a highly positive impression on British boxing fans as she joined the Sky Sports team to commentate on February's Boxxer show in Cardiff, which included Chris Eubank Jr's win over Liam Williams and Claressa Shields' victory over Ema Kozin.
Along with showing off her high boxing IQ on commentary, Mayer immersed herself in British boxing, visiting a local sports club to pass on some guidance to the next generation.
She said: "I loved it so much! You all really love boxing out there, you can just tell.
"It's so funny, because everyone always says, 'what's it going to take for us to grow women's boxing in the US?' It's just so much harder here, there's just so much competition for the media's attention. But when I went to the UK I just felt the love and the passion for boxing.
"It was really awesome. I loved commentating, I feel like I was really welcomed and everyone was appreciative of my commentary.
"I try to be honest when I'm commentating and give a good analysis of each boxer, so I'm happy to hear that the response was good and everyone enjoyed having me there and I can't wait to come back."
Mayer says that her boxing IQ will be on show inside of the ring when she faces Han on Saturday night in Costa Mesa.
After producing a brutal display to take the IBF title from Maiva Hamadouche last November, Mayer says she intends to vary her style against Han, who lost on points to Taylor in Leeds last year.
"One thing I pride myself on is I think I'm a very versatile boxer, one of the most versatile out there I think," Mayer said.
"I can do a lot of different things and people finally saw that when they saw me bang it out for 10 rounds with Hamadouche. I'm tall and lean, so people always expect me to box, but I'm versatile - I can do it all.
"I think in this fight you'll see a bit more of my boxing IQ, which I'm excited to show. It is a totally different fight, so it will be a totally different game plan."
