There is no longer any fight that will bring back Mikaela Mayer to the junior lightweight division.

Not even ‘that one.’

“I’m not going back down to 130. I’m done there,” Mayer confirmed to BoxingScene.com.

What began as a move to test the waters at a higher weight has become a full-fledged launch into the lightweight division for the former unified junior lightweight champ. The journey begins this weekend, when Mayer faces former two-time junior welterweight titlist Christina Linardatou (14-2, 6KOs) at Copper Box Arena in the Hackney Wick section of London (Saturday, ESPN+/BT Sport, 2:00 p.m. ET).

The fight is the first for Mayer (17-1, 5KOs)—a Los Angeles native who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado—since her disputed split decision defeat to Alycia Baumgardner (14-1, 7KOs) in their lineal/WBC/IBF/WBO junior lightweight championship last October 15 at The O2 in London. Opinions remain divided on who deserved to win, and no love has been lost between the pair of longtime bitter rivals.

Despite the high stakes and lucrative paydays for their clash, a rematch has yet to materialize. For a while, it was the only piece of business that would have kept the 5’9” Mayer at junior lightweight, particularly now that Baumgardner is the division’s undisputed champion.

That ship has sailed.

“People are like, ‘Sometimes you never know.’ Well, I know,” noted Mayer, a 132-pound lightweight for the U.S. in the 2016 Rio Olympics and has fought exclusively at junior lightweight since turning pro in 2017. “At this point… it’s not that I can’t do it. But at this point, it would be a step back for my career. If I’m not fighting Alycia in a rematch for the undisputed championship, then any other fight at 130 is a step back.

“I need to finally let my body fill out and see what I can do in these other divisions against top opponents.”

When Mayer couldn’t secure that lucrative championship rematch, she sought out and eventually landed the one opponent to officially hang a loss on Baumgardner.

The winner on Saturday will get to set her sights on Ireland’s Katie Taylor (22-0, 6KOs), the undisputed lightweight champion and by far the biggest gate attraction in women’s boxing. Mayer has every intention of prevailing this weekend to become the mandatory challenger for that very fight.

From there, she can then revisit the past—but on her terms.  

“Maybe one day, if [Baumgardner] wants to meet at 135 for a rematch I would never shut down that idea,” promised Mayer. “I am going to stay at 135 and go for the championship here. Maybe one day, she’ll just wake up, pick her head up and realize ‘Look what I did, I’m a dumbass.’

“But all I know is, I’m staying at lightweight where I plan to win my next championship.”

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