Female Pound for Pound Best Layla McCarter Now with Mayweather Promotions

Long considered female boxing’s best fighter pound for pound, Layla McCarter signed with Mayweather Promotions headed by the retired fighter considered the best pound for pound.

“It makes sense I sign with Floyd Mayweather the best pound for pound fighter,” said McCarter. “It’s a good fit.”

The Las Vegas fighter already has a fight date set for March 25, in the casino city. Showtime will televise. No opponent has been selected.

McCarter (38-13-5, 9 Kos) a former featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight and super welterweight world champion, has not lost a fight in 10 years. The Las Vegas-based prizefighter has long sought a match with current welterweight world champion Cecilia Braekhus or any marquee fight.

It’s a major reason she signed with Mayweather Promotions this week.

“I guess it’s a good move if I want to get TV fights instead of coming in as the opponent,” said McCarter by telephone on Wednesday. “I’m hoping I will be able to get some decent paydays. That’s my hope.”

It was somewhat of a surprise because McCarter and her trainer/manager Luis Tapia had long opted to pave their own path. But after talking to a notable television executive, they were told it would be easier to work with a promoter.

When McCarter was approached by Mayweather Promotion’s Leonard Ellerbee to become one of the company’s female fighters, she decided to sign.

“Leonard Ellerbee approached me and told me they were interested in me. Amanda Serrano was put on television recently, so I see the opportunities are there for women fights to be televised,” said McCarter. “We’ve been doing alright by ourselves, but it really would be good to have a promoter.”

McCarter, 37, began her career more or less a boxing orphan until she met Tapia her current trainer and manager. Together they have formed a formidable team that has taken them around the world and various world titles. Before meeting Tapia, McCarter has lost four of her first six fights. But their merger began her road to winning against all odds.

“Two things why she is so good: she loves to fight and she is not afraid of no one,” said Tapia about McCarter’s rise to the top of the female fight world. “That’s the basics for any professional fighter. You got to love what you do and not be afraid of anybody.”

When you look at McCarter her height and size are no imposing, but once she’s in a boxing ring her ability to operate at her own frequency and pace with a heavy skillset are truly impressive.

“She’s more skillful and she’s unbeatable right now. I don’t see anybody who can beat her now from lightweight to middleweight,” said Tapia. “Now that she signed with Mayweather he is the best male and she is the best female.”

McCarter has a wish list but at the top would be a face-to-face match with Norway’s Braekhus who fights next week against Sweden’s Klara Svensson.

“That girl (Svensson) is number three and I’m number one, says McCarter who has sought a match with Braekhus for several years. “The trick is getting her in the ring. If the money is right and the Showtime deal comes, she might reconsider.”

But everything is geared toward the end of March when she is slated to fight at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas. It will be televised and that’s what McCarter wants.

“They really want to make some big fights happen like with Cecilia Braekhus,” she said. “That’s a big fight that Showtime would like to see. Maybe they can make that happen.”

Meanwhile, McCarter resumes her training at Mayweather’s gym. For the past several years she had regularly trained there anyway. Now it’s formerly her home.

“Being the best female fighter I felt I should be with the best male fighter,” said McCarter of her signing with Mayweather Promotions. “I can’t wait to fight.”