Alycia Baumgardner: 'Mikaela Mayer would beat Claressa Shields’

Alycia Baumgardner is one of the most confident and brash fighters in women’s boxing, but her latest comments reflected her high opinion not of herself but of an opponent.

Making an appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday, Baumgardner was asked by the host Helwani about a rumored matchup between unified junior middleweight champion Mikaela Mayer and Claressa Shields, the current undisputed heavyweight champ and self-styled GWOAT.

Baumgardner, who in 2022 won a split decision over Mayer to unify three junior lightweight belts in a fight that served as support of Shields’ unified middleweight championship win over Savannah Marshall, was as direct as ever:

“Honestly, my opinion is Mikaela Mayer would beat Claressa Shields,” she said.

Baumgardner, 17-1 (7 KOs) and the current unified junior lightweight champ, wasn’t swayed by Shields’ significant size advantage or the accomplishments of the 18-0 (3 KOs) five-division titleholder from Flint, Michigan.

“I never would say weight matters. I think skills matter,” Baumgardner said.

“We have to talk about the skill set. We have to talk about the grit. We have to talk about the experience when we talk about a fighter, right? Mikaela Mayer, when her and I fought in London – amazing fight. Let me put this out there: We sold that show. Nobody was tuning in for Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. It was Alycia Baumgardner and Mikaela Mayer that sold that show at the O2 Arena.”

Baumgardner believes her victory on that night ultimately made Mayer better. She says Mayer, 22-2 (5 KOs), has built the package of skills, experience and resilience to beat the fighter who created – and has arguably lived up to – the mantle of boxing’s Greatest Woman of All Time.

“Claressa thinks she's the best in the world. She truly believes that,” Baumgardner said. “I don't think she is. I think she's the most accomplished, but I don't think she's the best.”

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.