Mikaela Mayer Goes For Third Division Title on Thursday

Six titles will be up for grabs on Thursday, October 30, in the week’s top fight card in Montreal, led by an attempt by two-division champion Mikaela Mayer to win a title in her third division.

WBA World Super Welterweight champion Mary Spencer of Montreal (10-2, 6 KOs) will make the second defense of her title against Mayer of Colorado Springs (21-2, 5 KOs) in front of her Canadian fans at the Montreal Casino in Montreal.

As a bonus, the WBO and WBC titles will also be on the line after they were vacated by Cecilia Braekhus, making for a sensational unified prize awaiting the winner.

How to watch Thursday’s Spencer vs Mayer fight card on Top Rank Classics in the US.

The Eye of the Tiger promotions card will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel. You find it on major free streaming hubs, including Roku, Tubi, Vizio, and Pluto. It’s free to watch but may require a login. Click here to learn how to find Top Rank Classics on your service of choice.

Spencer vs Mayer and select undercard bouts will air starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Thursday.

Spencer vs Mayer: Biggest Women’s Title Fight in Canada

Mary Spencer won her title in September against Naomi Mannes. Photo: Vincent Ethier, Eye of the Tiger

Mayer vs Spencer is without a doubt the most significant women’s title fight to take place in Canada.

“Never in a thousand years did I think I’d get the chance to fight Mikaela Mayer,” said Spencer. I’ve followed her career a lot, and as a fan, I love her style, but what excites me most is that our styles mesh so well that this will be a truly memorable fight.

“Saying I’m excited is an understatement, and I hope the fans are too, because this will be epic,” promised Spencer.

Mayer will be in the unusual position of challenger on Thursday. She had hoped to unify the titles at welterweight against reigning unified champion Lauren Price of Wales. But when the Price fight didn’t happen, Mayer looked for the next best challenge.

“Beating Mary Spencer at 154 pounds will make me a three-division world champion, and although I may be on the smaller side, I have the necessary skills and experience,” said Mayer. “I’ll dethrone Mary and then head back down to welterweight to challenge Price. I will be stronger, sharper, and better than ever.”

Mikaela Mayer outlanded Sandy Ryan by 32 punches in the ten two-minute rounds in March. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Mayer is quietly building one of the best resumes in women’s boxing. She is currently the reigning WBO World Welterweight champion. She won the title from Sandy Ryan in September 2024 with a majority decision, then defeated Ryan by unanimous decision a March rematch. Mayer won her first title in 2020, the WBO World Super Featherweight belt. She then unified it with a sensational defeat of Maiva Hamadouche in one of the best women’s fights you’ll ever see in 2021, but lost her attempt to become undisputed against Alycia Baumgardner.

Spencer is an accomplished amateur and three-time amateur world gold medalist who turned pro in 2021 with several fights in Mexico. She won her WBA title last September against Naomi Mannes, then successfully defended it in April against former world champion Ogledis Suarez while overcoming a serious hand injury. Spencer said she is fully healed and ready for Mayer.

There were doubts that Mayer would be successful moving up to welterweight, but she proved the doubters wrong. Although she lost a razor-thin majority decision in her first title shot against Natasha Jonas by a single point on one judge’s scorecard, she erased those doubts by beating Ryan twice.

Mikaela Mayer Follows Bud Crawford’s Example

Mikaela Mayer gets in sparring time in the month leading up to Thursday’s bout. Photo: Mikaela Mayer/Twitter

Now Mayer pushes forward in jumping up another division. If it reminds you of Terence Crawford’s successful ambitions against Canelo Alvarez, we promise Mayer wouldn’t mind the comparison.

Similar questions face Mayer on Thursday. Will her stamina and power carry up to 154 pounds? Mayer fought for the majority of her career at 135 pounds, with two fights at lightweight and three at welterweight. If Mayer’s punching carries enough sting to hurt Spencer, her conditioning should hold up and her experience will make the real difference.

Spencer is a career super welterweight with solid power and tremendous skills from her amateur days. She fought many women like Mayer, a Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. She should be physically stronger. She can hurt and slow down Mayer but she has to avoid incoming fire.

“Last year, Mikaela Mayer headlined at Madison Square Garden. This fall, she’ll be here at the Casino de Montréal. That proves Quebec boxing belongs in the big leagues, and that Mary Spencer doesn’t back down from adversity,” said Eye of the Tiger president Camille Estephan. Her world title is on the line that night, and I have no doubt she’s ready to go to war to keep it.”

If we see a repeat of Mayer vs Hamadouche, no one will be disappointed even if their favorite is defeated. And if the fight is this good, a rematch could be in the works.

Wilkens Mathieu Intends To Make A Big Impression In Co-Main

Wilkens Matieu continues to look impressive, and he’s still just 20 years old. Photo: Vincent Ethier, Eye Of The Tiger

EOTTM calls its co-main Thursday a “double main event.” In a high-stakes fight between two Canadian super middleweights with something to prove, the sensational 20-year-old prospect Wilkens Mathieu (14-0, 10 KOs will take on veteran Shakeel Phinn (27-3-2, 17 KOs) in a ten-round bout. The WBC Continental Americas and NABF titles are on the line, advancing the winner in two sanctioning body rankings.

Mathieu is the best super middleweight in Canada not named Christian Mbilli. While he respects his stablemate, he’d love to get out from under his shadow. He is confident he’ll do it

“This is clearly the biggest test of my career — but that doesn’t mean I’ll be tested,” said Mathieu. “People always say boxing is about levels, and on September 30, I’m going to show everyone, including Shakeel Phinn, that he’s not on mine.”

Mathieu is trained by Giuseppe Moffa of Montreal, who at age 25 is something of a young phenom himself. Moffa says people think Wilkens is in for a tough fight, but promised he’ll make it look easy with a highlight reel knockout.

Shakeel Phinn isn’t listening to any of it. Phinn fought undefeated EOTTM prospect Erik Bazinyan to a draw in May 2024, and many observers believe he won. Phinn says he’s back on a mission. He relishes the role of kingslayer.

Mathieu is still learning on the job, but so is Fabio Wardley, and we all saw how that worked out. It will be Mathieu’s first ten round fight. He’s never been past the sixth round in his four eight-round bouts. Don’t expect him to reach the final bell on Thursday. Wilkins has a golden opportunity to shut down the critics and launch himself into bouts against bigger names with bigger paydays.

Undercard Bouts Feature Canadian Prospects

Christopher Guerrero is learning on the job and learning well so far. Photo: Mikey Williams, Top Rank Boxing

Also on the card, Arthur “The Wolf” Biyarslanov of Toronto (19-0, 16 KOs) will defend his NABF super lightweight title against former world champion Sergey “The Samurai” Lipinets of Woodland Hills, California (18-4-1, 13 KO). It’s a native Russian against a native of Kazakhstan. Lipinets is coming off a loss to British prospect Adam Azim, but he also scored an upset win over Robbie Davies. Lipinets will test Biyarslanov, but it’s a test he should pass.

Top 15 light heavyweight prospect Mehmet Unal of Montreal, a native of Turkey, (13-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBC Continent title for the first time against Ralfs Vilcans of Riga, Latvia (18-2, 7 KOs). Unal is 32 years old and needs to stay busy and win in style to advance his cause in a competitive division.

Montreal fan favorite Christopher “Machine Gun” Guerrero (15-0, 9 KOs) will defend his WBC Continental welterweight title on the line against Williams Andres Herrera of Argentina (17-4, 7 KO). Guerrero, a native of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, can speak to his fans in three languages: Spanish, English, and French. That’s a big plus when you have the skills to entertain and to win.