Mikaela Mayer put to bed her ongoing rivalry with Sandy Ryan by posting a unanimous decision victory over the Derby woman in Las Vegas at the weekend.
Mayer likes to do things the hard way. As sharp as she was early in the contest, Ryan forced her way back down the stretch to tighten the scorecards. The final totals read: 98-92, 97-93, 97-93. Ryan was simply caught between styles, doing a bit of everything and not much of anything.
What’s next for both? Sandy Ryan has now failed twice in America to topple her nemesis. The first fight had the red paint incident beforehand, so it was excusable. This time Mayer separated herself. She will hopefully unify with Lauren Price next. I’d fancy Price to win that one.
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Brian Norman Jr and Bruce Carrington impress on Top Rank undercard
Brian Norman Jr had inherited his WBO welterweight title (won first as an Interim, then Terence Crawford dropped the full version), so this defence will make him feel like a real champion. Derrieck Cuevas was poor. Norman did exactly what you do to such opposition: smash them away early.
Bruce Carrington made similarly light work of Jose Enrique Vivas. The winner proceeded to call out every featherweight champion on the beat. He’d be a handful for any of them, but not necessarily a favourite to beat any of them, if that makes sense.
William Zepeda stutters past Tevin Farmer
Once was acceptable, but twice was a red flag. For the second time, high-octane William Zepeda scuffled and staggered past cagey veteran Tevin Farmer.
The former world champion is an experienced and slippery operator, so it’s no shame for him to give you the runaround. That said, he’s at such a stage of his long career that the better fighters around beat him more convincingly.
Zepeda has clearly strong attributes, but his struggles against such a style make it difficult to give him a chance of beating Shakur Stevenson, should that fight between dual WBC lightweight champions ever come to pass.
For the record, I had Zepeda as a handy winner. The scores were closer than I expected. The style issues persist regardless of how it was scored.
On the subject of Stevenson, the EBU recently sent out a circular that revealed Sam Noakes had relinquished his European title to contest a WBC belt. Do we have Shakur’s next foe locked in already?
Who’s more damaged? Tim Tszyu and Joe Joyce return this weekend
Two former world-level boxers return to action this weekend as Joe Joyce and Tim Tszyu look to put their respective careers back on track in different locations.
Now that I think about it, their opponents, Filip Hrgovic for Joyce and Joey Spencer for Tszyu, could also do with wins to reignite their careers. A lot is riding on Saturday’s events.
I am of the belief that poor old Joyce’s run at the top is over. His chin has been irreparably cracked and Hrgovic, if fit and focused (both big ifs) can put the final nail in his career coffin. Which is a terribly crass analogy, but I’m going to leave it in anyway.
As for Tszyu, he should get past Spencer, who is decent but unspectacular. The Fundora loss was damaging and the Murtazaliev mullering was a real setback. If he beats Spencer, they’ll likely revisit the previously-aborted Keith Thurman fight.
Image Credits: BBC, Cris Ezqueda/Golden Boy.
About Steve…
Current existence: Online editor at Boxing News Magazine.
