MONTREAL – In her most audacious move yet, Mikaela Mayer had the most impressive performance of her professional career.
Mayer picked up three junior middleweight titles on Thursday night, dominating the naturally larger Mary Spencer at Casino de Montreal in a unanimous decision victory between former Olympians.
Mayer, of Woodland Hills, California, won by the scores of 100-90 on one card and 98-92 on the other two, picking up the WBA 154lbs title held by Spencer, plus the WBC and WBO belts that were recently vacated as a result of the retirement of Cecilia Braekhus.
The win makes the 35-year-old Mayer, 22-2 (5 KOs), a three-division champion after she won the WBO and IBF titles at 130 pounds, plus the WBO welterweight title last year. She has now won three straight since losing a split decision against Natasha Jonas in January 2024.
Despite being the naturally smaller fighter - who didn't have to cut any weight while checking in at 151lbs on Wednesday - Mayer says she wasn't surprised that she was able to back Spencer up consistently.
"That's how [former junior middleweight contender] Kofi Jantuah has been training me. He wanted more volume. He wanted me to be able to follow up on my punches, not just throw a three punch combination and pull back out and reset," said Mayer, who is promoted by Top Rank.
"I knew with my conditioning that I'd be able to push her back in spurts. Even though she's strong and maybe a bit heavier, my conditioning was going to overpower her, and I knew I'd be able to push her back."
Spencer, 10-3 (6 KOs), a 2012 Canadian Olympian from Montreal, lost for the first time since she dropped back-to-back decision losses to Femke Hermans in 2022 and 2023.
Mayer allayed any concerns that she was jumping too far up in weight early on, stunning Spencer with an overhand right moments into the first, and continuing to press with left hooks and jabs that penetrated her guard.
Mayer continued to press her advantage in the second, using a jab-hook-jab combo to open up a right hand that rocked Spencer again. Spencer had no answer for the pressure from Mayer, who gave her no space to box from distance. The fight became more of an in-close brawl in the third as Mayer stood inside and ripped body shots with both hands. The pace began to wear on Spencer, who looked to hold more and took deep breaths that were audible from several rows back.
Spencer found a second wind in the fourth, landing effective shots with her left hook, both to the head and body. She was able to find counterpunch opportunities in the fifth round, particularly with a pair of right uppercuts in the final 30 seconds.
Mayer appeared to be closing in on a stoppage in the eighth as she pushed Spencer to the ropes and ran off combinations with straight punches, but Spencer was able to take those shots and fire back with uppercuts – though they did little to slow Mayer’s pace.
Mayer opened the ninth with a hard straight right that had Spencer in trouble once more. An overhand right in the final minute of the round nearly dropped Spencer, who was being countered every time she tried to throw back. Spencer made it to the final bell – but not without absorbing more punishment in the 10th from Mayer’s nonstop body and head attack.
With the victory, Mayer now holds three of the major world titles at her weight, with the fourth – the IBF belt – held by fellow former U.S. Olympian Oshae Jones.
The show was promoted by Eye of the Tiger Management and Top Rank.
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.
