Not even a long drive home from Las Vegas could allow Mikaela Mayer to fully wrap her head around the thought of losing out on her second scheduled fight in as many attempts this year.

The unbeaten 130-pound contender was thrilled to learn that she landed the co-feature slot to an ESPN-televised card this evening at the MGM Grand Conference Center Ballroom in Las Vegas. Her bout versus Nigeria’s Helen Joseph was due to be a part of the first televised boxing event on American soil since March 13.

Mayer became the first boxer with a fight scheduled to test positive for COVID, while perhaps serving as a case study for some of the flaws in the still relatively fresh testing protocol.

“This whole testing positive really caught me by surprise,” Mayer (12-0, 5KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “Prior to flying out to Vegas, I was given a COVID-19 test and antibody test in Houston (following training camp). I didn’t get the results of the COVID test before I left. I did get the antibody test and my antibody test was positive. Meaning, I probably caught it previously and developed the antibodies to fight it, so I was recovered.

“I didn’t think I could test positive because I already had it. When I saw that positive test, it really threw me for a loop.”

Testing protocol as constructed by Top Rank, Mayer’s promoter and the Nevada State Athletic Commission call for all boxers and their essential team members to submit to testing immediately upon arrival at the designated hosting property. They are brought on site by an assigned vehicle, and dropped off at which point they are to submit to a COVID test and remain in isolation for upwards of six hours.

Once a participant tests negative, they are permitted to enter the designated enclosed space, affectionately known as “the bubble.” Those who test positive are immediately removed from the show and denied access to the MGM Grand, without the benefit of a retest to rule out a false positive. It’s a far stricter policy—perhaps to a fault—than the one which exists for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), who just hosted the second of two straight shows in Vegas this past weekend.

One fighter, Ian Heinisch—a middleweight who also hails from Colorado—was nearly removed from last Saturday’s UFC 250 show after one of his cornermen tested positive for COVID. An immediate retest cleared his coach, allowing Heinisch to proceed with his televised preliminary bout versus Gerlad Meerschaert, whom he stopped in just 74 seconds.

It felt nearly that quick for the rug to be pulled from under Mayer’s feet.

“When I saw that positive test, it really threw me for a loop,” notes Mayer. “I immediately asked for a retest, only the protocol in place didn’t allow for a retest. Even worse, I get my result from the COVID that I took in Houston before we flew to Vegas and it was negative, like I expected.

“It was either a false positive or… maybe it picked up on the antibody and made it a false positive. I just really wish I had a second test because I believe it would have cleared me.”

Top Rank’s official protocol has yet to be made publicly available, although there remains confusion over the quarantine process. None existed in the case of Mayer, who was provided with a rental car—since she cannot fly due to the positive COVID-test—to drive to her home in Colorado.

There was no 14-day isolation period to recover. Instead, just a 750-mile trek for the unbeaten contender to remain alone with her thoughts. 

“I had to wait until the test result came back. Once it did, I didn’t even make it into the hotel. They got me a rental car and I left,” points out Mayer, who continues to come to grips with the development. “It was quick… and I didn’t want to be there. I just got in my car and drove, drowning my sorrows. They weren’t going to put me on a plane. They rented a car and had it ready in front of the hotel.

“I felt a little defeated at first. I’m driving home from Vegas by myself asking how this is happening to me. What good will come from this? I used that drive home to feel sorry for myself and feel upset. I just have to persevere through this. It’s the story of my life. I’ve handled worse. It’s just disappointing. It’s a great opportunity I missed out on, a co-main event on ESPN. It was huge for my career. I’ve put a lot of into this career. So, I’m a little pissed.”

Mayer and her manager, George Ruiz have been assured by the Top Rank brass that—assuming she receives a clean bill of health—there figures to be a spot for her hopefully by July. The Las Vegas-based company will be running two shows per week throughout the summer, all to air on an ESPN platform.

Tonight’s card will be headlined by unbeaten featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (13-0, 7KOs), who faces Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo (13-1-2, 9KOs) in a non-title fight at 130-pounds. Stevenson will be without the services of trainer Kay Koroma, who was also removed from the event due to being part of Team Mayer. The same applies to all of her team members assigned for Tuesday’s card.

Despite having trained together in Houston to prepare for this event, Stevenson is permitted to still proceed with his main event as planned. The association policy only applies directly to team members of the party who tested positive.

Rather than means to clear her name, Mayer is instead left with a second full training camp without a fight to show for it. She was due to appear on a St. Patrick’s Day card live on ESPN+ from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City, only for the event—along with Stevenson’s planned March 14 ESPN headliner at the same venue—to be canceled due to the initial global COVID outbreak.

Two camps, two paydays gone along with the exposure that comes from appearing on ESPN. The latter part is huge for a boxer in Mayer’s position, particularly in an era where women’s boxing is only beginning to get some of the attention it has long deserved.

Instead, all she can do is her best to clear her name. Mayer has already taken a test at a drive-through testing station in Denver, and will await what she hopes this time is good news for a change.

“So now I’m hoping that I get this test in a couple of days, and it will be negative like the one I took in Houston,” notes Mayer. “Then I can just get right back in training.

“There’s obviously nothing I can do other than just roll with the punches and hopefully get back on a card next month.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox