Alycia Baumgardner isn’t worried that Mikaela Mayer may be underestimating her.
Baumgardner, the 28-year-old Michigan native and WBC women’s junior lightweight champion, is confident that her ability to think on the fly will separate her from Mayer, the Southern California denizen who owns the IBF and WBO titles.
Baumgardner and Mayer are set to face each other in a 130-pound unification bout Sept. 10 at the O2 Arena in London on the undercard of the Claressa Shields-Savannah Marshall undisputed women’s middleweight title fight.
Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) and Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) have been trading words all summer long, and in a recent interview, the Michigander took issue with Mayer’s belief that Baumgardner is a one-trick pony. Mayer has repeatedly said Baumgardner’s only way of winning is to land her right hand.
In turn, Baumgardner suggested that Mayer, 32, is overly reliant on her trainer, Al Mitchell.
“Not a lot of people have seen me in these top caliber fights,” Baumgardner told Tha Boxing Voice. “So when you see me you have to make adjustments. I have it all. I check all the boxes. So for her to have this one mindset that I’m a one-dimensional fighter is completely wrong. But I’mma let her think that because come fight night she’s gonna understand that she in there with a dog.
“She can’t make adjustments on her own. She depends on her coach to make adjustments for her. That’s how I know that her technique is not good, her skill level is not as good as mine.”
Baumgardner burst on the boxing scene when she stopped Terri Harper in the fourth round—courtesy the right hand—last November in Sheffield, England, to win the WBC 130-pound title. For Baumgardner, the moment redeemed years of toiling away in the gym in relative obscurity, despite Mayer’s frequent comments suggesting the opposite.
“This girl, she’s arrogant for one,” Baumgardner said. “She’s spoiled. She doesn’t know what humble means. For her to think that I just came out the woodwork is funny, it’s comical, because I’ve been grinding to the motherf------ top for a hot ass minute. I just haven’t had the spotlight.
“And that’s fine with me, because the story is just sweeter. Because who is Alycia Baumgardner? I obviously showed who I was in the Terry Harper fight, and for the ones who still don’t know I’ll continue to show.”