LAS VEGAS – Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan poured all their bad blood into a minute-long face-off. 

Both had easily made weight, then they stared each other down for more than a minute before they had to be separated on stage. 

Each fighter came in lighter than for their terrific first fight last September 26 in New York City. Mayer weighed 146 pounds, more than half a pound down from her win over England’s Ryan when she was 146.6 pounds. Ryan checked in at a trim and fit 145.5 pounds, well below her weight of 146.8 pounds ahead of the loss of her title six months ago. 

Mayer will attempt her first defense of the belt in an immediate rematch to their 2024 Fight of the Year contender. The scheduled ten-round title fight will air live on ESPN from Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

The fight is essentially a home game for Mayer, 20-2 (5 KOs), who relocated to Las Vegas two years ago. The 2016 U.S. Olympian grew up in San Fernando Valley and previously lived in Colorado Springs before she made the decision to live and train in Vegas. 

Mayer’s win last September saw her become a two-division titlist. She was the unified champ at super featherweight before an October 2022 defeat to Alycia Baumgardner in their three-belt unification bout. 

Mayer’s previous attempt to become a two-division titleholder ended in a split decision loss to Natasha Jonas in their terrific IBF welterweight title fight last January in Liverpool, England.

She came up aces in her second title fight at the weight, though not without its share of pre-fight controversy. 

The fight was Mayer’s first without the assistance of Kay Koroma, who took on Ryan as a client in what Mayer viewed as an act of betrayal. It created bad blood between the pair of welterweights, which carried throughout the promotion and beyond.

An unexpected and horrific sidebar saw Ryan, 7-2-1 (3 KOs) doused with red paint as she attempted to make her way from the fighter hotel to Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. By her own admission, she fought on fresh emotion more so than controlled rage. It produced a terrific fight but also the end of her title reign after 18 months. 

The men’s version of the WBO welterweight title is at stake in the evening’s co-feature. Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jnr, 26-0 (20 KOs) weighed 146.7 pounds for the first defense of his title. Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas, 27-1-1 (19 KOs), officially checked in at 146.3 pounds for his first career 12-round fight.

Their bout was originally scheduled for November 8 in the co-feature slot for Keyshawn Davis’ homecoming headliner in Norfolk, Virginia. Norman was forced to withdraw and postpone their clash after suffering a hand injury which required surgery. 

Both title fights will air live on ESPN, following the preliminary undercard which will stream on ESPN+.

Below are the complete weigh-in results. 

Welterweight – 10 rounds (for Mayer’s WBO women’s welterweight title)

Mikaela Mayer (146lbs) vs. Sandy Ryan (145.5lbs)

Welterweight – 12 rounds (for Norman’s WBO men’s welterweight title)

Brian Norman Jr. (146.7lbs) vs. Derrieck Cuevas (146.3lbs)

Featherweight – 10 rounds (WBC featherweight title eliminator)

Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington (125.3lbs) vs. Jose Enrique Vivas (125.8lbs)

Super lightweight – rounds

Emiliano Vargas (138.6lbs) vs. Giovannie Gonzalez (138.3lbs)

Welterweight – 8 rounds

Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson (146lbs) vs. Kendo ‘Tremendo’ Castañeda (146.8lbs)

Super lightweight – 4 rounds

Dedrick Crocklem (128.6lbs) vs. Dionne Ruvalcaba (128.8lbs)

Bantamweight – 4 rounds

Emmanuel Chance (119.4lbs) vs. Miguel Guzman (118.7lbs)