What’s next for Alycia Baumgardner and Mikaela Mayer
Last October, Fremont, Ohio native Alycia Baumgardner picked up her 13th career victory in a split decision win over Los Angeles, California native Mikaela Mayer in a split decision at O2 Arena in London.
It was a fight in which Baumgardner retained her WBC and IBO female super featherweight titles while also winning the WBO, IBF, and The Ring super featherweight titles.
Since then, Baumgardner went on to defeat Elhem Mekhaled at Hulu Theater in New York this past February to retain the WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring female super featherweight titles while also winning the then-vacant WBA super featherweight title. For more boxing talent from Ohio, this sports betting site will fill you up with the latest promotions.
At this point, Baumgardner has all the gold around her waist and also owns a 14-1 record. The 5-foot-6 orthodox boxer nicknamed “The Bomb” hasn’t lost a fight since 2018 when she lost a split decision to Christina Linardatou
With that, what’s next for Baumgardner? Could a rematch be in store with Mayer? We take a look below.
While many are looking forward to a potential rematch between Baumgardner and Mayer, another rematch is in store for Baumgardner before according to Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com. BoxingScene.com reported on Wednesday that Baumgardner is eyeing a rematch against the aforementioned Christina Linardatou for July 15 in Detroit. The fight according to the report has not been finalized but it remains the plan to be a headlining fight for a July 15 DAZN pay-per-view in Detroit.
Linardatou, nicknamed “Medusa” and “Black Mamba” holds a 13-2 record over her career that started in 2014. The 35-year-old has not had a professional fight since prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 when she defeated Prisca Vicot to win the then-vacant WBO female junior-welterweight title. She held the title until 2021 when she had to vacate her title due to becoming pregnant. After winning her first eight fights from July 2014 through March 2016, she is 5-2 in her last seven fights with losses to Delfine Persoon in 2016 and Katie Taylor in 2019. Both were by unanimous decision. Seven of her 13 career wins have come by decision while six have come by way of knockout.
When it comes to a fight with Mayer – a rematch does seem inevitable. In February, Baumgardner told Boxing Scene that “I definitely see a rematch”. “Everything has to make sense. I think the next fight will really solidify that I beat her the first time and that the second fight will end by knockout,” she added in the interview. Baumgardner is referring to a controversial decision in which two of the judges of the fight awarded Baumgardner with the win while a third judge had Mayer winning the fight in a “convincing” fashion according to Boxing Scene.
A potential rematch seems to be on the mind of Mayer as well, unshockingly. In April, Mayer spoke about Baumgardner on The DAZN Boxing Show. “I made it very clear that I wanted a rematch,” she said on the show. That being said, their contract for the original fight last October did not include a rematch clause meaning a rematch is by no means guaranteed nor needs to happen. While Mayer wants that rematch and Baumgardner has expressed interest in one, it has been very quiet on that front. Mayer, however, isn’t interested in waiting forever. “I don’t know what the problem is, but at the end of the day I’m not going to sit around and wait for her,” she also said.
With that, it’s unclear when, or if ever a rematch will occur between Baumgardner and Mayer but there is certainly feelings from both sides to have that rematch and fans alike would also be lining up to see the potential rematch as well. All eyes from the boxing world will be watching the next moves of Baumgardner and Mayer following Baumgarnder’s match this summer against Linardatou.