Mikaela Mayer and Mary Spencer have never crossed paths in the ring before, but they’ve orbited one another for more than a decade.
As elite amateurs during the time when women were first getting the chance to box at the Olympics, they knew one another’s names, though they were always separated by several weight classes.
Now, they’re set to meet on Thursday night at Casino de Montreal, with three 154lbs world titles at stake, in a match that few could have anticipated happening.
The two fighters met face-to-face on Tuesday at the final press conference ahead of their fight.
“She's a worthy opponent. She's done a lot in the sport,” said Mayer, 21-2 (5 KOs), of Woodland Hills, Calif. “I remember her name from back in the day. She was the it girl back in the amateurs, so those are the type of names I want to add to my resume, and we got the fight done, so I'm happy to be here.”
Mayer, a former champion at 130lbs and the current WBO welterweight champion, says she elected to move up to junior middleweight after being unable to secure an undisputed championship showdown with Lauren Price, the unbeaten Welsh fighter who holds the other three belts at 147lbs. Now, after Cecilia Braekhus retired and vacated the WBO and WBC titles, there will be three of the four major belts at stake, with Spencer’s WBA title also on the line.
my goal is to go undisputed. I couldn't get that undisputed fight against Lauren Price at 147, so my goal is to find the next best challenge for me. And when Mary Spencer's name came up, I said, ‘Yep, let's go to 154. Let's take that challenge.’”
Despite being the naturally bigger fighter and the incumbent champion, Spencer, 10-2 (6 KOs), is currently a significant underdog with online sports books, with FanDuel having Mayer as a -750 favorite and Spencer a +430 underdog. Despite those odds, the 40-year-old Spencer will have a few advantages, including fighting in her hometown of Montreal, Canada.
“I saw the odds. I know that I'm the underdog according to the bookies, but I mean, they get it wrong often. I don't feel like an underdog. I feel like this fight is a gift,” said Spencer.
“I know where I'm at as far as training, where I'm at in my life, and I felt even before this fight was matched that the next opponent was going to be in trouble, whoever that was. And now the situation is even more exciting because it's Mikaela, because of the style that she brings.”
Both Spencer and Mayer represented their countries at the Olympics, with Spencer being part of the Canadian squad for the 2012 Games in London, and Mayer representing the United States at Rio 2016. Spencer has won three straight, including an interim title fight against Naomi Mannes in September of 2024. She became the full champion when Terri Harper vacated the title, making Spencer a pro champion just a couple years after losing back-to-back decisions to Femke Hermans. She made her first title defense in April, shutting out Ogleidis Suarez over ten rounds.
“I think the key to victory is going to be me staying comfortable and being myself in the ring, and just being calm,” said Spencer.
Mayer became a welterweight champion in her second attempt after losing a split decision at the beginning of 2024 to Natasha Jonas. After back-to-back wins over Sandy Ryan, Mayer has moved up in weight again as she chases greatness once more.
"I have a big job to do on Thursday night. It's always been my goal in this sport to go and search out the best fights possible, the biggest names possible,” said Mayer.
“There are lots of big fights ahead of me, but the number one goal right now is to put on a great performance, show everyone that even though I'm the smaller fighter, skills pay the bills. Size doesn't win fights, skill does."
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
