Rhiannon Dixon (left) takes a punch from Terri Harper (right) during their lightweight bout on Sept. 28, 2024 – Photo by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
One of the best weeks in women’s boxing this year took place last week, when the main televised cards were headlined by women.
On Friday, Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan battled it out for what would be the best fight of the weekend. It was a classic duel between power and speed, and Mayer’s footwork and hand speed ultimately won the day. It was a close affair that warranted a replay, especially since it suited both of them so much given the investment in trash talk they had put into the fight.
As a result of this victory, Mayer was proposed to be number 2 in the welterweight division, replacing Ryan who went to number 3.
“The fight between Mayer and Ryan was very close, but I think Mayer won a little bit, although the cards in his favor should have been close,” said Irene Deserti, editor of Rincon Rojo magazine. His sentiments were echoed by broadcaster Cynthia Conte, who said “it was a very close fight and there should be a rematch.” They will throw again and there will be a lot of money after the rematch.”
Others expressed doubts. “I thought Mayer beat Baumgardner and Jonas early in his career, but he needed to do more to take the titles from Ryan,” said columnist Mark Jones. “Ryan won that fight even though his corner team was rookies and they didn’t do anything for him. The fight should have been called off after an unknown suspect threw paint at him when he was leaving the hotel,” said the writer, speaking about the incident that was not handled properly by the forces involved.
“It was very exciting to see such a great fight between Mayer and Ryan,” said Japanese writer Yuriko Miyata. “They both gave it their all, and I could see Ryan succeeding without that incident.” Boxing historian Malissa Smith, who was present at the fight, said “Mayer was happy with the kill, while Ryan was able to show his power in the later rounds, although I felt that Mayer’s feet and uppercut abuse gave him his power.” limitation in scoring.”
On Saturday, we saw the ugly end of what had already been a demolition of Alycia Baumgardner, who showed no signs of ring rust and went straight for the neck of already famous 130-pounder Delfine Persoon. An accidental cut on Person forced the fight to be declared a no-go, but it was clear that Ring champion Baumgardner was on his way to a clear victory.
As a result of this result, Baumgardner remains the Ring champion and Person remains at No. 1 in an otherwise weak category.
“Baumgardner looked great in his return to action, and I think he has no competition in the junior lightweight division,” said writer and TV producer Yesica Palmetta.
“The guy is 100% going to be in the Hall of Fame in the future, but he has to retire,” Jones added. “Ever since she fought Katie Taylor five years ago, she’s had cuts and bruises from aging. That said, Baumgardner looked good and deserved to be listed pound for pound.”
“Tough break for Baumgardner, who was in the process of winning his title,” said writer Christopher Benedict. “Too many battles over a long period of time have taken their toll on the Belgian hero. As Mark suggests, it’s time for him to hang up the gloves and start writing his Hall of Fame speech.”
Sandy Ryan (right) and Mikaela Mayer (left) shake hands during their welterweight title fight – Photo by Mikey Williams
In another unusual battle, Terri Harper was the clear winner of all three major events when she defeated fellow Brit Rhiannon Dixon in a battle of pride and country. Naturally tall and strong, Harper was the slight favorite and used his advantages to stop Dixon and score enough points to secure a solid win in the lightweight bout.
Harper, unrated at 135, enters the No.
“I really liked Harper’s performance,” Palmetta said. “He looked so good at 135 pounds. I think Dixon was put off by the perceived power of Harper. “
Conte admitted that “Harper looks very good against Dixon. Both arrived well but Harper looked different. I’m glad you backed off.”
“I know I wasn’t the only one who suspected that the beating Terri Harper suffered at the hands of Sandy Ryan in March was going to be very difficult for the ‘Belter’ to recover from,” added Benedict, “but my hat’s off to Harper.” with a superb performance on Saturday, handing Rhiannon Dixon her first defeat and taking her belt to become a three-division world champion.”
Since Harper was previously weighed in at 154 pounds, the weights in that division had to be changed. Everyone moved up one spot, and Canada’s Mary Spencer was chosen as the new No. 5, once again returning to our rankings.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. and an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. She has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He worked as a copy editor for the second season of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
