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Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan 2: Who has the edge heading into their fight?
The heated rivalry between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan continues Saturday night in Las Vegas, where the two will clash in a highly-anticipated rematch with Mayer’s WBO welterweight world championship on the line.
Mayer defeated Ryan by majority decision in September hours after Ryan was doused in red paint outside of her New York City hotel. Ryan’s camp blamed Mayer for the incident. Mayer alleged that Ryan stole her trainer, Kay Koroma.
Will Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) make it 2-0 over her rival? Or will Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) avenge the loss to become world champ?
With the anticipation reaching a fever pitch for this fight, DAZN News analyzes who has the edge between the fighters across three key categories.
Boxing skills
Their initial fight had the champion Mayer putting her full boxing repertoire on display toward collecting the majority decision victory to win the WBO welterweight world title.
Mayer dictated the pace for much of the fight, being the first boxer to the punch, and changed levels effectively to unleash rapid-fire combinations which seemed to catch Ryan by surprise across many sequences.
Although Ryan dug back into the fight and made Mayer work for the win, the latter was the better boxer with the more advanced sweet science skills.
Edge: Mayer
Counterpunches
The timing of her hooks, especially the left hook, was the method that Ryan was able to utilize well to demand Mayer’s respect.
Mayer has counterpunches to her fight game as well but Ryan’s had more pop to them in their first bout.
Plus, the British fighter showed the willingness to unload those hooks in punching traffic — something that Mayer will have to account for.
Edge: Ryan
Mental Warfare
Their first fight had all the dramatic fireworks a buildup to a bout could ever need. There was Ryan being splashed by red paint outside of her hotel hours before the bout in an incident she alleged Mayer concocted. Mayer also accused Ryan of swiping her trainer, Kay Koroma.
But when it came down to the actual bout, Mayer handled her business en route to a successful title victory. Until Ryan can prove to have the mettle to show otherwise, Mayer will enter this rematch with the edge in the mental warfare category. If Ryan's mental state is fragile in any way, she will be hard-pressed to defeat Mayer.
Edge: Mayer
Who has the edge in Mayer vs. Ryan 2?
After all the pre-fight antics, Mayer was the better boxer for enough rounds to claim the world title. She enters this rematch with an edge, 2-1, forcing Ryan’s hand to produce the necessary punches and mental fortitude needed to become the new world champ. Rest assured, Mayer will do everything in her ability to refute that.
