LAS VEGAS – Mikaela Mayer has a good problem to have with so many worthwhile options for her next fight. 

In her mind, though, the choice is easy. 

The opportunity to fully unify the welterweight division and become the undisputed champion is the only option that Mayer wanted to consider immediately after her repeat win over Sandy Ryan. Mayer scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Ryan to defend her WBO welterweight title Saturday evening at Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Even before their ESPN-televised rematch, Mayer, 21-2 (5 KOs) – a California native now based in Vegas – had her mind set that a win would lead to a mouthwatering showdown with Wales’ Lauren Price. 

A head-on collision between Mayer and Price would leave the winner with every piece of hardware at 147 – Price, 9-0 (2 KOs), is the lineal, IBF, WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine champion at the weight. 

“I think that I’m definitely gonna finish what I started at 147,” Mayer told BoxingScene and other reporters following her rematch win over Ryan. “Lauren Price is obviously the next choice. We’ve wanted undisputed for years. That was a goal of mine that I didn’t get to complete at 130. 

“This is my chance to do it again. I see us having that conversation with Lauren Price’s team.” 

Price, who won gold in the 2020/2021 Olympics, unified the welterweight divisional titles after her March 7 unanimous decision over Natasha Jonas at Royal Albert Hall in London. Their Sky Sports headliner saw Price retain her lineal and Ring championships and WBA belt, in addition to claiming Jonas’ IBF and WBC titles. 

Mayer’s initial quest to unify at welterweight ended when Jonas and Price agreed to fight. It resulted in Mayer granting an immediate rematch to England’s Ryan, 7-3-1 (3 KOs). 

Their initial September 27 meeting saw Ryan, 31, enter with the WBO welterweight belt, which Mayer, 34, claimed via majority decision in their Fight of the Year contender in New York City. The competitive nature of the fight, the fierce action and the pre-fight controversy (someone attacked Ryan hours before the bout with a can of paint) formed the perfect recipe for a rematch, which Mayer gladly honored. With that chapter of her life behind her, it’s on to unfinished business – in more ways than one.

Mayer hoped to have remained at junior lightweight long enough to have fully unified all the belts. That dream ended with a split decision defeat to Alycia Baumgardner in their October 2022 bout in London for the lineal championship and the IBF, WBC and WBO titles. 

That bout was postponed by five weeks due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Whether Mayer would have outfought Baumgardner on the original date was a moot point. She quickly outgrew the division and proceeded to move up in weight for each of her next three fights. 

The last of that run ended in a heartbreaking split decision defeat to Jonas in their terrific IBF welterweight title fight in January 2024 in the latter’s hometown of Liverpool, England. 

The outcome was a letdown for Mayer, of course. However, the fact that many viewers felt Mayer deserved the nod added to the American’s confidence in how well she performed that night at the top level and in a new weight division.

Further proof was offered in Mayer’s closely contested win over Ryan in their first fight, and again in her far more convincing win on Saturday. 

“This is where I belong,” Mayer said. “I needed to move up to welterweight for a long time. When I finally did, it took a good solid year of hard work. This is where I’m comfortable; this is where I should have been.” 

It’s where she plans to say, especially considering her other lucrative options would require moving up or down in weight. 

Also discussed before and after Saturday’s ESPN headliner was a superfight of sorts with Claressa Shields, 16-0 (3 KOs), Mayer’s 2016 Olympic teammate and the reigning pound-for-pound queen. Shields is a multi-division undisputed champion and currently is undisputed at heavyweight. Even at 154lbs, that would mean a 20-pound drop from Shields’ official fight weight for her February 2 win over Danielle Perkins. 

A far more realistic – but still secondary – option for Mayer would be a rematch with Baumgardner. Mayer even acknowledged that fight could take place at a 140-pound catchweight, given Baumgardner’s current place as the undisputed junior lightweight champion.

“154 is later down the road,” Mayer said. “Claressa Shields needs to get down. She’s still up there at the higher weight. She needs time. 147 first. 

“Baumgardner knows that we’re willing to make that rematch happen. She just signed with MVP [Most Valuable Promotions]. Jake Paul is a smart guy. Let’s see if he wants to make it happen. I would do a catchweight at 140 if she thought that would be fair. I really don’t mind. I’m open to all things.” 

Both would make for a terrific next fight – if Mayer didn’t already have a better choice directly in her path. 

“I do think that going against Lauren Price and challenging her for undisputed is my ultimate goal,” vowed Mayer. 

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.