Mikaela Mayer will make the first defense of her WBO Jr Lightweight strap against former two-weight champion Erica Farias
Mikaela Mayer will make the first defense of her WBO junior lightweight strap against former two-weight world champion Erica Farias in the co-feature.
Mayer dethroned Ewa Brodnicka last October as the co-feature to the Inoue-Jason Moloney main event. Mayer has her sights on the top names in and around her weight class.
The 10-round featherweight televised opener will see the return of action star Adam Lopez, who will defend his NABF strap against former WBO junior featherweight world champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe.
Mikaela Mayer
“We need to hear that promoters and networks want us to go those three-minute rounds and that they see the benefits it would have for women’s boxing. And if that’s what you want, I’ll give it to you, and if that’s what will grow women’s boxing, we will do it.”
“I don’t have anything bad to say about Erica Farias. She has been a champion for a long time. She fought at 140 and 147, and now she is coming down in weight. She has a ton of experience, but this is a new era in women’s boxing.
The experience and the skill that I bring, even though I have fewer fights than her, is on another level thanks to the Olympics and for women being able to fight at the highest level in the amateurs.
This will also be a test for her. I prepared very well, and we studied her fights. We always go into fights with a good game plan. If she studied my last fight, it’s not going to really help her because, with every single fight, we keep learning and building. I’m looking to become a better fighter every time I go out to the ring.”
Erica Farias
“I will take full advantage of this opportunity. I already became world champion in two divisions, and now I’m looking to become champion in the division that I debuted in a couple of years ago. I feel great at this weight.”
“I’m very calm. I’ve been working hard for seven months because I would get another opportunity in a higher-weight class. That’s why we took this challenge. We were close to the division since I’ve been working very hard for the last couple of months.”
Photos by M. Williams / Top Rank