And The New: Mikaela Mayer Now Three Division Champion

In the most significant women’s fight to ever take place in Canada, Mikaela Mayer of Colorado Springs (22-2, 5 KOs) sent the fans in Montreal home disappointed with a dominant victory over WBA World Super Welterweight champion Mary Spencer of Montreal (10-3, 6 KOs) in her second title defense on the Top Rank Boxing and Eye of the Tiger Mangament card on Thursday.

Mayer becomes the unified champion in a second weight division and a three-division champion overall by winning Spencer’s title as well as the vacant WBO and WBC titles on the line for a sensational unified outcome in her first fight in the division. Scorecards were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-92 for Mayer.

Mikaela Mayer Stays Busy and It Pays Off

Mayer acknowledges she is a natural welterweight at this point in her career. Her first choice was to try to unify the division against Lauren Price of Wales. When that fight couldn’t be made, Mayer and her team looked for options, and lit on the idea of fighting a champion at 154 pounds. Mary Spencer was game and had a date on the calendar.

“She’s a strong, solid opponent,” said Mayer. “Props to her, she didn’t have to take this fight. She took a big risk taking a fighter like me. I always come forward and put on tough fights. Props to her, she’s a heavy-handed girl.”

Spencer must now regret it. Mayer proved to have more than enough power against Spencer, taking the fight to her on the inside with excellent hooks from the opening bell. Mayer retained good hand speed, and whatever height or weight difference disappeared as she stayed right on top of her Canadian opponent.

Spencer’s corner urged her to push Mayer back as the bigger woman and throw more combinations. Spencer had her best round in the fifth, landing solid hooks and uppercuts. But the rest of the fight was all under Mayer’s control. By the ninth round, Spencer was worn out, and Mayer rocked her with hard shots. Spencer was fortunate to finish the fight on her feet.

Mayer vs Spencer Highlights

Will Mayer Unify at 147 or 154? Why Not Both?

Mayer said that because she is used to being the taller fighter against her opponents in the smaller divisions, she knew what a taller fighter like Spencer would bring to Thursday’s fight and used the insight to her advantage.

“I knew how to come over the top with the big hooks. You saw near the end of the fight me landing those big hooks,” said Mayer.

Now with three belts at super welterweight, and the single welterweight title that Lauren Price needs to unify the division, Mayer is just one fight away in two different divisions from becoming an undisputed champion

Asked which challenge interests her most, Mayer said she has options. “Having options is definitely a blessing. I’d love to defend both belts, go back down to ’47, go undisputed, and become undisputed, and then come back (up to 154 pounds),” said Mayer, adding, “154 is different. I think I can do both.”

Watching the fight and commenting on social media, five-division champion Amanda Serrano saluted both Mayer and Spencer. “It’s fighters & fights like this that Elevate the Sport. Thank you ladies for making us look good.”

There were doubts 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 Sandy Ryan twice.

If Mayer’s ambitions remind you of Terence Crawford’s successful quest against Canelo Alvarez, we promise Mayer wouldn’t mind the comparison.

Undercard Results from Montreal

Wilkens Mathieu continues to impress and look like the real deal at age 20 with a win over veteran Shakeel Phinn. Photo: Jeff Lockhart, Eye of the Tiger

In a high-stakes fight between two Canadian super middleweights with something to prove, the sensational 20-year-old prospect Wilkens Mathieu (15-0, 10 KOs) got in ten good rounds of work against 35-year-old veteran Shakeel Phinn (27-4-2, 17 KOs), winning a wide unanimous decision by scores of 99-90, 98-91, and 98-91.

Despite the scores, Mathieu had to work hard against Phinn to win those rounds. Phinn was riding a seven-fight win streak, and he wasn’t eager to give up. Matthieu had the upper hand with excellent hand speed and counterpunching, catching the offense-minded Phinn moving forward.

Phinn found success in the ninth round, buzzing Mathieu just enough to remind him that an opponent is always dangerous, but it was too little and too late. Mathieu wins the WBC Continental Americas and NABF titles, but more importantly, the fight establishes Mathieu’s path to becoming a mandatory challenger.

Artur Biyarslanov graduated from prospect status by battering veteran Sergey Lipinets. Photo: Vitor Munhoz, Eye of the Tiger

Arthur “The Wolf” Biyarslanov of Toronto (20-0, 16 KOs) looked exceptionally sharp. He took a significant step forward as a serious super lightweight contender in a dominant performance against former world champion Sergey “The Samurai” Lipinets of Woodland Hills, California (18-5-1, 13 KO). Biyarslanov battered the brave but outgunned Lipinets, winning by scores of 99-90, 97-92, and 96-93.

Lipinets has given his opponents plenty of tough fights, and his intentions were evident as he came out aggressively in the first few rounds. But a vicious cut and hematoma opened up over Lipenet’s left eye. Now he had two opponents to worry about.

The Russian-born southpaw had the edge from there, although Lipinets refused to yield or quit even though no one would have criticized him for it. Lipinets forced Biyarslanov to test his conditioning, going hard to the body and never letting up, even as the cut began to bleed profusely in the last few rounds.

Mehmet Unal barely needed a minute to drop and stop Unal Vilcans. Photo: Vitor Munhoz,

Top 15 light heavyweight prospect Mehmet Unal of Montreal, a native of Turkey, (14-0, 12 KOs) made a strong case to rise in the rankings with a vicious first round knockout win over Ralfs Vilcans of Riga, Latvia (18-3, 7 KOs). Unal drilled Vilcans with a hard right hook, and his evening was over at one minute and three seconds of the fight.

Montreal fan favorite Christopher “Machine Gun” Guerrero (16-0, 9 KOs) defended his WBC Continental welterweight title with a decision win against Williams Andres Herrera of Argentina (17-5, 7 KO). Scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93. Guerrero didn’t have much trouble with Herrera from legal punches, but he took low blows in both the fifth and final tenth rounds from a frustrated Herrera, who also hit Guerrero late after the bell in the fifth round. The fighters mouthed off at each other, but got back to their corners, where Guerrero saw his way to the win.