Boxing results: Mayer defeats Ryan, Baumgardner-Persoon ends in a no fight

This weekend belongs to women's boxing. Two title fights took place on Friday in New York and Georgia, and a third will take place on Saturday in Sheffield, England.

On Friday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, Mikaela Mayer defeated Sandy Ryan to win the WBO welterweight title.

Ryan traveled to the United States to face Mayer for the second time in a year. Ryan won the title in April 2023 with a unanimous decision victory over Marie-Pier Houle. After her unification bout with WBC and WBA champion Alycia Baumgardner ended in a draw, she fought Terri Harper in the fourth round – and defeated her TKO in March.

As Ryan left her hotel to drive to the venue on Friday evening, she was struck by an open red paint can belonging to an unknown man. She said she felt something hit her stomach and then she saw a man in a hoodie run to a car and drive away. Ryan was uninjured and made her way to the venue after changing in her hotel room.

Ryan and her team told ESPN they believed it was a member of Mayer's camp, an accusation Mayer denied.

“Mikaela Mayer will do it,” Ryan said. “It was definitely a ploy by their team. What else would it be?”

Mayer lost her WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles to Baumgardner via split decision in October 2022. She then increased her weight and defeated Lucy Wildheart via unanimous decision to win the WBC interim lightweight title in April 2023. Mayer moved up again, losing a split decision to challenge Natasha Jonas for the IBF welterweight title in January.

Also on Friday, Baumgardner took her WBC junior lightweight title against Delfine Persoon at the Trilith Studios Town Stage in Fayetteville, Georgia, but the fight ended in a fourth-round no-contest after Persoon accidentally suffered a headbutt that resulted in a cut her caused right eye. This was Baumgardner's first fight since she tested positive for two banned substances in a voluntary anti-doping test prior to her fight against Christina Linardatou on July 23 (the decision was overturned).

Baumgardner (15-1-1 NC, 7 KOs), of Woodland Hills, California, became the undisputed junior lightweight champion by defeating Elhem Mekhaled via unanimous decision on February 4, 2023. She made a defense against Linardatou.

Persoon (49-3-1 NC, 19 KOs) from West Vlaanderen, Belgium, is a two-time lightweight champion. She lost her belt to Katie Taylor when she attempted to unify all four lightweight belts in June 2019.

On Saturday in Sheffield, England, Rhiannon Dixon puts her WBO lightweight title on the line against current WBA junior middleweight champion Terri Harper (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET).

Dixon (10-0, 1 KO), of Warrington, England, won the belt by defeating Karen Elizabeth Carabajal by unanimous decision in a heated fight in April in which both fighters suffered cuts. This will be their first defense.

Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), of Doncaster, England, drops three divisions for this fight. The last time Harper fought as a lightweight was in March 2022, a unanimous decision victory over Yamila Belen Abellaneda.

Mayer defeats Ryan to win the WBO welterweight title

Mikaela Mayer became a second division champion with a victory over Sandy Ryan and captured the WBO welterweight world title with scorecards of 95-95, 97-93 and 96-94 in an action-packed fight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night in New York.

Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs), of Derbyshire, England, entered the fight as the slight favorite (-125 per ESPN BET), and she showed it by attacking Mayer from the start.

“It was similar to what I imagined,” Mayer said after the fight. “I've always said before that I respect Sandy as a boxer. She has a big pedigree, just like me, but I knew I could beat her faster. I knew I was faster. I knew I was sharper. And that’s exactly what I did.

Ryan's jab looked like a powerful punch in the first few rounds. Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) prepared her combinations with her own jab, but there was a difference in power. Ryan's right hand landed and Mayer was forced to take the win a few times, fighting off her back foot for most of the fight.

Round 4 was a classic with both fighters throwing hard punches. Mayer landed 17 power punches in this round alone, 12 of which were for Ryan. But it was Mayer who escaped with a small cut above her left eye.

Ryan hurt Mayer early in the sixth round with a beautiful left hook to the body, a right cross to the face, followed by a left hook to the head. Ryan landed 23 power punches in the round compared to 17 for Mayer. Mayer recovered in the eighth round, landing her powerful right hand and seemed to get stronger in the final two rounds.

It was a very close fight and in the end Mayer landed 186 punches compared to Ryan's 185 as chants of “USA” rang out from the stands.

“I learned it in the middle of the fight, like I always do,” Mayer said. “I always turn it on in the second half of the fight. And she just couldn't handle my timing. So I felt like I won the fight and I’m just happy that I made the right decision this time.”

“She’s probably definitely the strongest person I’ve ever boxed. Not so much in her punches, but you could feel it in her body, in the way she tried to push me around the ring. But you know, skill trumps strength.” “

During Wednesday's press conference, Mayer said the rivalry with Ryan was personal after her coach Kay Koroma, with whom she has trained since her amateur days, began training Ryan last year.

As Ryan left her hotel to drive to the venue on Friday evening, she was approached by an unknown man with an open red paint can. She said she felt something hit her stomach and then she saw a man in a hoodie run to a car and drive away. Ryan was uninjured and made her way to the venue after changing in her hotel room.

Ryan and her team told ESPN they believe it was a member of Mayer's camp, an accusation Mayer denied.

Mayer, from Woodland Hills, California, who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, fought in the United States for the first time since April 2022.

Mayer won the WBO junior lightweight world title for the first time by defeating Ewa Brodnicka by unanimous decision in 2020. After a successful defense, she added the IBF title with a lopsided unanimous decision against Maiva Hamadouche in November 2021. She lost the belts by split decision a year later in a close fight against Alycia Baumgardner. After two successful fights at lightweight, Mayer moved up to welterweight to challenge Natasha Jonas for her IBF world title, but lost another decision.

“I don't know if you saw it, but I was in a hit-and-run accident (with paint in front of the hotel). And that was definitely planned,” Ryan said after the fight. “I don’t take anything away from the win, but it unsettled me.

“When I went to the venue I was shocked. And then it threw me off my plan a little bit because I just wanted to fight. And as you can see, I was handling her pretty well at the beginning of the fight when I was jabbing her. “I punched her and then started to tackle it, but then obviously I put too much pressure on it.

The win could open the door for Mayer to unify titles against IBF champion Natasha Jonas or WBA titleholder Lauren Price. Jonas and Price are promoted by Ben Shalom of Boxxer, who also promotes Ryan. Ivana Habazin is the WBC champion at 147 pounds.

Where can I watch the Ryan Mayer fight card replay?

The Ryan-Mayer fight card replay can be seen on ESPN+.

Watch: Download the ESPN app | Watch ESPN | TV

Don't have ESPN? Learn how to get instant access today: ESPNInstantAccess.com

How do I stream the fights?

The fights can be streamed on mobile devices via the ESPN app.

Full Ryan vs. Mayer card results:

• Title fight: Mikaela Mayer defeated Sandy Ryan with MD10 to win the WBO women's welterweight title

• Xander Zayas defeated Damian Sosa by UD10 in a junior middleweight bout

• Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington defeated Sulaiman Segawa in a MD10 featherweight bout

• Vito Mielnicki Jr. defeated Khalil El Harraz in a junior middleweight bout with MD10

• Floyd Diaz defeated Mario Hernandez by UD8 in a bantamweight bout

• Elvis Rodriguez defeated Kendo Castaneda by UD10 in a junior welterweight bout

• Delante “Tiger” Johnson defeated Yomar Alamo by UD8 in a junior welterweight bout

• Rohan Polanco defeated Marcelino Lopez by TKO6 in a junior welterweight bout

Baumgardner vs. Persoon card results:

Where can I watch the Dixon vs. Harper fight card on Saturday?

The broadcast of the Dixon-Harper fight card begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on DAZN, with prelims beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The full Dixon vs. Harper card:

• Title fight: Rhiannon Dixon vs. Terri Harper, 10 rounds, for Dixon's WBO women's lightweight title

• Peter McGrail vs. Brad Foster, 10 rounds, junior featherweight

• George Liddard vs. George Davey, 8 rounds, middleweight

• Galal Yafai vs. TBA, 8 rounds, flyweights

• Jimmy Sains vs. Omir Rodriguez, 6 rounds, middleweight

• Giorgio Visioli vs. Diego Lagos, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

• Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Kevin Trana, 6 rounds, lightweights

• Brandon Scott vs. Calum Turnbull, 6 rounds, junior featherweight

• Josh Babb vs. Kelvin Madjid, 6 rounds, bantamweights

• Connan Murray vs. Marco Simmonds, 6 rounds, junior middleweights

Top stories: