By: Sean Crose
“I have a big job to do on Thursday night” says multi weight titlist Mikaela Mayer (via the WBO). “It’s always been my goal in this sport to go and search out the best fights possible, the biggest names possible.” Mayer will have an opportunity to prove just how good she is on Thursday when she takes on Mary Spencer in Spencer ‘s homeland of Canada. Suffice to say a WBO world title is at stake.
“I’ve had a great career so far,” Mayer continues. “I did my thing at 130. I moved up to 147 and became a champion there, but 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.”
She may be well into her thirties, but the popular Mayer feels that notable days are still ahead. “There are lots of big fights ahead of me,” she says, “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.”
Suffice to say, Mayer is confident her skills will be put to good use against Spencer. “That’s what I’m going to do Thursday night,” she says. “I’m going to trust my corner and trust the game plan that we have. It was a really long camp. We put in a lot of work in, so I’ll be ready to put on a great show for you guys.”
Spencer, however, plans on making the night her own. “I saw the odds,” she says. “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.”
Like Mayer, Spencer seems ready for the opening bell. “I I know where I’m at as far as training,” she says, “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.”
To Spencer, it all seems to come down to self-belief. “I think the key to victory,” she says, ” is going to be me staying comfortable and being myself in the ring, and just being calm.”