Mikaela Mayer On The Hunt for KOs in Arizona
By David A. Avila
In a little over a year Mikaela Mayer enters the boxing ring for the seventh time but this time as a full fledge super featherweight.
“We tried to fight at super featherweight before but the girls we contacted dropped out and we were forced to fight last-minute against girls at lightweight,” said Mayer.
Mayer (6-0, 3 KOs) ventures to the Arizona region to face Hungary’s Edina Kiss (14-7, 8 KOs) in a six round super featherweight bout on Saturday Aug. 25, at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. ESPN will televise and the Top Rank fight card will be streamed on ESPN+.
The former American Olympian with blazing speed and the height of a volleyball player doesn’t mind the rapid-fire assignments. It’s her job.
“It’s exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to sit on the shelf. That’s what I was doing in the amateurs fighting every month,” said Mayer, 28, a Southern California native. “I’m constantly peaking my body every month and climbing the ladder.”
Speed and power are her natural weapons and it’s also her fight mentality. She doesn’t want to know what other fighters did against Hungary’s durable Kiss who has only been stopped by Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano, twice.
“She’s (Kiss) fought a lot of the top girls. I plan on stopping her regardless of who she has been stopped by. I want to knock her out. That’s what I want and that’s what women’s boxing needs,” said Mayer. “I’m not concerned what other fighters have done. That’s what I’m trained to do, to sit down on my punches and take them out.”
Mayer said her enemy has been herself, especially after years of fighting in the amateurs where she was taught to hit and run. But her longtime coach Al Mitchell has been working on erasing the amateur habits.
“Coach Al originally had me pro style and I definitely got away from that in the amateurs. But Coach Al has been getting me back and setting down on my feet and staying in the pocket,” said the tall super featherweight.
But staying in the pocket hunting for knockouts is not the amateur style. Hit and run is more amateur boxing.
“It has been hard because I had to do that in the amateurs and trained to do that in the amateurs,” Mayer said. “When the pressure is on its hard to do that and stay disciplined.”
It’s been a daily task.
Kiss, 28, has proven durable and fought several world champions and top contenders in America. A list of her opponents reads like a who’s who in the featherweight and super featherweight division. Opponents like Shelly Vincent, Heather Hardy, Cindy Serrano and Shannon O’Connell have all traded blows with the blonde Hungarian known as “DNA.” None of the above were able to stop her but they did win.
Mayer looks to come out like a jackhammer.
“It’s what people want to see,” Mayer said. “I want knockouts.”
The goal for the superfast Mayer is to very quickly win a world title in the super featherweight division.
“I don’t even know who the champions are but I want them,” said Mayer. “But I’m focused on Saturday and that’s all.”
Seven fights in one year and three weeks. That’s pretty quick work.
(Photo by JP Yim)