Mikaela Mayer just proved once again that she belongs at the top. In her second clash with Sandy Ryan, the former WBO welterweight champion, erased any questions from their first fight six months ago, which ended controversially after her majority decision victory. At the time, many had felt Ryan was not on her best foot because of the paint-gate incident. Thus a rematch was the only way to clear up any doubts. And clear up doubts, she did.

After a few hiccups in the first few rounds, Mayer put on an exhibition in brawling, outclassing the Derbyshire native with precise counters and carefully timed overhands. The California native dazzled at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, leaving the crowd stunned. She made her point in front of some of the biggest names in boxing. Claressa Shields, Terence Crawford, and Caleb Plant were particularly impressed by Mayer’s performance as they broke down the bout.

Except for the first few rounds, Mikaela Mayer “did her thing“

FightHype TV was able to get hold of Crawford, Shields, and Plant as soon as the final bell rang. Claressa Shields kicked things off, giving props to both boxers. She said, “It was a good fight,” before joining others for a photo session.

Caleb Plant couldn’t hide his excitement as the reporter caught up with him. Despite being short on time, Plant broke down the bout claiming Ryan had an upper hand in earlier rounds. If she had continued on the game plan, she would have walked away with the belt. However, he had no doubt that Mikaela Mayer had done enough to win the fight by the end.

“It was a hell of a fight. I felt like Mikaela won it clearly. Sandy Ryan come out stronger in the first round, but I feel like Mikaela had the puncher on the back foot. When the boxer’s pushing the puncher back, that lets you know everything you need to know. She landed the harder cleaner shots. I think she clearly won. I’m happy for it,” Plant explained.

At last, it was time for Terence Crawford to weigh in on the fight. In typical Bud fashion, he kept it short and sharp and stated, “Great fight. Mikaela did her thing.” No one in the arena had any doubt regarding the result of the fight. And they were proven right as Mikaela Mayer defended her WBO title for the first time. If all goes well, it’s onto the undisputed clash with the division’s unified champion Lauren Price. However, for Sandy Ryan, it is back to the drawing board.

Dejected Sandy Ryan unsure about her future

The victory has put Mayer in a prime position for an undisputed bout against undefeated and unified WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight champion Lauren Price. However, with two back-to-back losses and a third overall career loss, things are rather bleak right now for Sandy Ryan. While an option of a trilogy with Mayer is still open, Ryan isn’t sure about it.

In a post-fight interview with iFL TV, the 31-year-old agreed with Caleb Plant’s analogy and claimed that changing her game plan mid-fight proved costly. “We thought we started well, boxing, keeping to the plan that Kay [Koroma] had me on. But then, I got drawn into it, and I fell off and just went into a fight,” she admitted.

As a natural progression, the interviewer asked Ryan about her future. Unsurprisingly, the question left her stumped. “As of now, I’ll be honest, I don’t know. I’ll speak to my team, but as of now, I don’t know,” Ryan confessed being unsure about her next step.

While the loss has indeed affected Sandy Ryan’s record, she has a good chance to come back. She is just 31 years old at the moment and has a lot of fights left in her career. At this point, it will be better for her to start from a contender’s position and rack up a few wins to put her back into the title conversation once again or possibly a trilogy fight with Mikaela Mayer. However, it all depends on Sandy Ryan.

What do you think about Mikaela Mayer’s performance? And what should be Ryan’s next step? Let us know your thoughts down below.