Mikaela Mayer's former coach Kay Koroma responds to training camp feud: 'She made it personal'
Watch Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan 2 live on Sky Sports Action this weekend; Mayer previously condemned Ryan for working with her trainer, a move that prompted her to leave Kay Koroma's gym and bring in a new coach; Koroma insisted she fired him to make the Ryan fight happen
Friday 28 March 2025 06:42, UK
Mikaela Mayer's former trainer Kay Koroma, now the new coach of her fierce rival Sandy Ryan, has issued a stinging rebuke to the WBO welterweight world champion.
Mayer defeated Ryan last year to win the WBO belt and will rematch the Briton in Las Vegas this weekend, live on Sky Sports Action in the early hours of Sunday morning.
An angry feud erupted between Mayer and Ryan over the latter 'stealing' her coach when she joined Koroma's training set-up.
- 'Sandy has a weak mentality' - Mayer's rematch taunt to Ryan
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Mayer condemned Ryan for working with her trainer, a move that prompted Mayer to leave the gym and bring in a new coach.
Koroma denied he had betrayed Mayer's trust. "She can say whatever she wants, that 'I left her'. I've known Sandy Ryan the same amount of time I've known Mikaela Mayer. I've been in Sandy Ryan's life forever. I never wanted them to fight each other," the trainer told Sky Sports.
Koroma insisted: "Here's the Don King of Mikaela Mayer, and this is what I want everyone to hear, Mikaela Mayer wanted to make the fight happen. She did it. The only way she could make the fight happen, truth be told, is to get rid of me. I didn't see them fighting.
"She made the fight happen. She became a promoter."
The dispute between the camps remains bitter. "They're saying this is business but you made it personal," Koroma told Mayer. "I'm not going to fall into the same trap as you. Grow up.
"It brought out the real you. It brought out how you really felt about me. It's not about someone 'stole' your coach. It's about respect at the end of the day. You never heard me go on anything, Twitter or anything, and talk bad about Mikaela Mayer, her team, coach Al [Mitchell], or anybody. No. Because why? Those people I felt like they were my folks.
"It's about dignity and respect. Respect me because I respect you."
Mayer beat Ryan by majority decision after an exciting 12-round clash at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York last September.
But the controversy ahead of their contest was heightened when Ryan was doused with paint by a mysterious attacker on her way to the venue.
Koroma is convinced that led to Ryan's defeat. "She's coming here as the world champion, show her some respect," he said. "The paint [incident] just threw it off. We're not using it as an excuse but as a coach, as a friend, as someone that's really close to her, you have to know your friend, know your athlete.
"I felt like mentally she wasn't there. She just had war on her mind. So no matter what happened, no matter what anyone said to her, she wasn't hearing it.
"It's been a hard mental camp. Just with all the criticism and having to work on things I saw with the mistakes she made in the first fight.
"Sandy has to go in there and showcase what she's been learning, what she's been doing.
"We're here today. The [first] fight was historic. It was great for women's boxing. It was great for just boxing. It was a war."
Mayer condemns Koroma 'playing the victim'
Mikaela Mayer responded to Koroma's claims. "I think for anyone who knows the story, for him to publicly say that I'm the backstabber and play the victim is gaslighting. It's gaslighting and it's typical narcissistic behaviour for him to do that. He's the one who decided to take on Sandy. I'm the one that had to find a whole new team," Mayer told Sky Sports.
"I'm not going to go around protecting him. I'm not happy with the decision he made. It was his decision but these are repercussions. I'm not going to go protecting him, I'm going to speak the facts and say what happened."
Ryan insisted that she is unfazed by the dispute: "It was expected for her to talk about the training thing because she's being doing it since the first fight. I just think: Are you not bored talking about it now?'
"You've got your new trainer Kofi [Jantuah] and he's the best thing. So why are you still running Kay's name through your mouth? I don't understand that bit.
"Everyone's different and she just decided to keep going through the same thing so I'll just leave her to it."
Watch Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan live on Sky Sports Action from midnight on Sunday morning.
