Alycia Baumgardner vows to knock out 'one-dimensional' Mikaela Mayer and welcomes Katie Taylor or Amanda Serrano fight down the line
Alycia Baumgardner says Mikaela Mayer has not improved since her amateur days as the pair prepare to fight for the WBC, WBO and IBF super-featherweight titles on the historic Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall bill; watch it live on Sky Sports on Saturday, September 10
Monday 5 September 2022 19:30, UK
Alycia Baumgardner is out to steal the spotlight on Saturday's historic night of women's boxing by knocking out 'basic' Mikaela Mayer in their super-featherweight unification clash.
The American duo feature in the penultimate fight at The O2 ahead of Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall's grudge battle for the undisputed middleweight championship after a decade-long rivalry.
Baumgardner holds the WBC and IBO belts that she claimed thanks to a fourth-round TKO victory over Terri Harper in Sheffield last November.
She has since defended her titles in April's unanimous decision win against Edith Soledad Matthysse, and envisions a similar outcome against Mayer.
- Mayer: 'Beef is real' with Baumgardner | 'Shields won't let Marshall get set'
- Shields to Marshall: 'You let your whole country down in 2012!'
"The only thing Mikaela brings is what she always brings, which is an amateur style fighter," Baumgardner told Sky Sports. "She's a one-dimensional fighter, she looks the same as she did in the amateurs as she does in the pros.
"There are levels to this game and I believe she's only maybe up a notch in her career, I don't see anything that stands out to me. I'm not looking up Mikaela Mayer's fights, she's not that impressive to me.
"Credit to her for what she's done but she's not at my level, I just believe she's a one-dimensional fighter. She's basic, as they say."
The two fighters have traded back-and-forth insults amid a bubbling rivalry that has gathered in momentum over the past year, Mayer having been critical of Baumgardner's performance in her sole career defeat to Christina Linardatou in 2018 as well as claiming the 28-year-old has been 'immature and angry' during the build-up.
"As for her comments, Mikaela has to speak herself up at this point," said Baumgardner. "She knows I'm a threat, she knows she's in there with somebody she's never been in there with before so her approach to the fight is to build the fight and make herself feel better and I get it.
"But it's comical for me at this point, it's funny to see the things she's saying and she actually believes them so it is what it is.
"I've already been motivated with the fact I am fighting her and with her comments it just makes the fight even more exciting because it just shows that there is so much more for people to see."
Mayer had also previously insinuated that Baumgardner did not want the fight - a claim the latter was quick to shut down.
"I've wanted this fight actually since the amateurs, so now it's come to fruition in the pro world I'm like 'even better'," explained Baumgardner.
"I'm an athlete, I'm a competitor, I want to fight the best. She believes she's the best at 130, I know I'm the best at 130. She needed me to make this fight, I didn't have to take the fight, that's the thing a lot of people didn't know.
"I could have stayed and defended my title, I could have got the other two fights that Matchroom signed for me to have, but do you know what, this is the right time, it's perfect timing and the fact it's in the UK even better, I can beat her just like I beat Terri."
Live Shields v Marshall: Weigh-In
Baumgardner has promised fans the "best Alycia that you've ever seen" when she fights in the UK for the third time in her career.
Shields and Marshall may be the headline, but 'The Bomb' has other plans.
"When I knock her out it's definitely going to change the whole dynamic of the whole fight night, it's going to be huge, I promise it is," Baumgardner said.
Baumgardner reflects on her loss to Linardatou as a positive catalyst for her development as a fighter and an athlete, giving her a humbleness that she believes an unbeaten Mayer lacks.
She enters the fight having won six straight either side of a 19-month layoff as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and a torn ACL, with a place at the top of women's boxing now in her sights.
"Being undisputed at 130 is No 1 (among goals)," she explained. "After that I want to move to 135, I want to fight whoever the best is.
"If that's a Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, whoever that is I want to fight. I'm an athlete, a competitor, I want to fight the best.
"These fights build the sport of boxing. For me I'm building a legacy, it's really not so much about how many titles you have, how many accomplishments you accomplish, it's about legacy, cementing who you are as a fighter, outside the ring and it all comes together."
A return to the UK has only added to the excitement.
"The first time I came to the UK everybody made me feel so welcome," she said. "So now I'm coming back for the third time, I'm adopted at this point.
"I feel like the fans know who I am, I love it, it's just a great atmosphere for boxing. Being in London this time is going to set the stage on a bigger level for women's boxing and for myself so I'm super stoked."
The biggest fight in the history of women's boxing - Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall - is live on Sky Sports on Saturday September 10. Be part of history and buy tickets for the London showdown here.
