The path to junior lightweight supremacy was previously met with opposing viewpoints by Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner.

Mayer (17-0, 5KOs) has long gunned for the best in the division, eventually getting her wish as she will next face Baumgardner (12-1, 7KOs). Between the two, the WBC, IBF, WBO and IBO belts and vacant lineal championship will be at stake for their September 10 clash at The O2 in London.

The WBA belt remains in possession of South Korea’s Hyun-Mi Choi (19-0-1, 5KOs), the sport’s longest reigning active titlist—male or female—and a two-division title claimant. Nine defenses have come of her eight-year reign, though against largely nondescript opposition and without an honest attempt to unify.

As far as Mayer is concerned, everything relevant to the division will be at stake on September 10.

“Choi needs to be stripped of her belt,” Mayer told krikya360.com and other reporters. “She does nothing for this era of women’s boxing. She doesn’t fight anybody. The people she does fight are not top ranked. They are subpar opponents. She’s holding back this division and holding back women in this sport as a whole.

“I think she should be stripped. It’s impossible, ridiculous that none of us can get a fight with her because her team has ridiculous standards. If she were a true champion, she’d want to put her ass on the line and take meaningful fights. She just doesn’t.”

As much was proven when plans for a Baumgardner-Choi never evolved past the discussion stage. Both are co-promoted by Matchroom Boxing, who previously sought to match them together with the idea of the winner facing Mayer for the undisputed championship. 

Nothing ever came of the pairing, leading Baumgardner—an Ohio native from the greater Detroit area—and Matchroom to explore a superfight with Mayer. The matchup was far more appealing, with each of their last two wins taking place roughly a week from one another.

Mayer—a 2016 U.S. Olympian who won the WBO title in October 2020—added the IBF strap following a ten-round win over Maiva Hamadouche in their sensational fight last November 5. Baumgardner crashed onto the title scene with a stunning one-punch, fourth-round knockout of unbeaten Terri Harper just eight days later in Sheffield, England.

Both are coming off separate lopsided decision wins this past April. Mayer—a Los Angeles native now based out of Colorado Springs—soundly outpointed former featherweight titlist Jennifer Han on April 9 in Costa Mesa, California, her first main event in her childhood home state. Baumgardner pitched a ten-round shutout over former unified featherweight titlist Edith Soledad Matthysse this past April 16 in Manchester, England.

Now comes a head-on collision, though only after Baumgardner was bold in proclaiming that Mayer would come after the 27-year-old knockout artist first handled Choi.

“That’s what she wanted,” insisted Mayer. “I get wanting to go to Choi first and making this a big undisputed fight. But just like I couldn’t get the fight with Choi, she couldn’t get the fight with Choi.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox