15 July 2020

Mikaela Mayer makes history in dominant victory over Helen Joseph as she eyes shot at WBC champion Terri Harper

American super-featherweight Mikaela Mayer moved one step closer to a world title shot as she comfortably outpointed Helen Joseph in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

The 30-year-old Olympian, who made history by becoming the first woman to headline a Top Rank-promoted ESPN show, cruised to a 100-90, 99-91, 100-90 decision victory.

Mayer barely lost a round as she sent out a statement to the rest of the super-featherweight division (Twitter: ralphcgeorge)

She has finally been able to get the ball rolling in 2020 after two scheduled dates had to be cancelled due to various COVID-19 reasons, including testing positive for the virus at the beginning of June.

Mayer was also without her trainer Al Mitchell on Tuesday after he tested positive for the virus.

But after extending her perfect professional record to 13 wins from 13 fights, Mayer is now hoping to secure a world title shot for her next bout.

Speaking to ESPN after her fight, she said: "[Mitchell] is my biggest critic, so even though I won every round, I probably didn't work the body enough.

"I abandoned my jab at times, but I think, all in all, he'll be happy.

"[Top Rank promoter] Bob Arum said, 'Great fight,' and that the next one will be for the title. We've been trying to get a world title fight for a while now."

Mayer exchanged words with Britain’s WBC champion Terri Harper earlier this year as the California-born fighter accused the Yorkshire title holder of ‘buying’ her strap.

Harper defeated Finland’s Eva Wahlstrom back in February to be crowned WBC champion, a belt Mayer desperately wants to get her hands on.

But first up for Harper is an all-British dust-up with Liverpool’s Natasha Jonas behind closed doors at Eddie Hearn’s 'Fight Camp’ in Essex on August 7.

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