Mikaela Mayer regained her place among boxing’s elite on Friday night, winning the WBO welterweight title in a thrilling majority decision victory over Sandy Ryan at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in Up-to-date York.

The victory was a significant recovery for the 34-year-old Mayer (20-2, 5 KO), who had suffered consecutive defeats in her previous title fights. After controversial losses to Alycia Baumgardner and Natasha Jonas, Mayer’s performance signaled a resurgence.

The judges scored the fight 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93 in Mayer’s favor, which she became confident of as the fight progressed.

“I have always said I respect Sandy as a boxer. She has a lot of pedigree, just like me, but I knew I could beat her. I knew I was faster and smarter and that’s exactly what I did,” Mayer said. “I always turn it on in the second half of the fight and she just couldn’t stand my timing. I felt like I won the fight and I’m glad I made the right decision this time.

Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KO), 31, entered the fight as the reigning WBO welterweight champion and brought a physicality to the fight. However, Mayer’s technical precision ultimately proved too much.

“She was probably the strongest person I ever boxed, not so much in her punches, but you could feel it in her body as she tried to push me around the ring,” Mayer said. “Skill beats strength.”

For Mayer, the victory is a key step in her quest to become the undisputed welterweight champion after moving up from lightweight.

“I want to finish what I started and remain undisputed,” Mayer said. “I was so close at lightweight, but my body exceeded that weight. I feel comfortable now. I feel like I’m stronger than ever, still in great shape as you can see. So I come for other champions.”

While Mayer has left the door open to a potential rematch with Ryan, her attention remains focused on the bigger challenges in the division.

“I’m here for what the fans want,” Mayer said. “If the fans demand a rematch and the money is right, we can do it. Otherwise, there are a lot of girls in the welterweight division that I would like to challenge myself against. Either way, you won’t see me in an effortless fight. I choose the biggest and the best.”

Recalling the emotional ups and downs of her career, Mayer stated that these experiences only made her stronger.

“I had to experience all kinds of emotions, from highs to lows, and I still had to get through it,” she said. “When the bell rings, everything will be a thing of the past anyway.”

TONY SIMS believes a potential rematch between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua could only go one way.

Sims, who trained Joshua for his first 17 fights, including his first world title in 2016, would love to see his former student turn the tables on Dubois, but he knows father’s time waits for no one.

Asked if the rematch would end in a similar fashion to their Wembley clash eight days ago, Sims replied: “I think so.”

“Dubois is a unsafe player. I would like to see Joshua win because Joshua is a good friend of mine and an aged fighter I trained. But history tells us otherwise.

I think it will be very hard to try to rematch this fight and get back on top after what happened last night. It’s a game for teenage men and I think he has a huge future ahead of him, Daniel Dubois.

After surviving three knockdowns, Joshua’s courage and lack of defense were put to the sword by Dubois in round five when a tiny opposite hand knocked out the 34-year-old.

“That first knockdown was tough,” Sims said. “It was a robust right overhand and a robust shot.

“Of course, before the knockout, Dubois caught a good shot. However, Dubois fended off these shots.

“And I thought, oh, is he hurt there? But he just shook it off. He took another right hand, shook it off again, and simply answered with his own. And that’s what youth is all about, when you’re so teenage and your desire is so great that sometimes you can walk through the shots.

“I thought it was just a really great, inspiring performance from him. This will give you a lot of self-confidence. He will probably be a better fighter after this fight.”

According to Tony Bellew, it was how the fight between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua started that led to its ending.

Dubois came out wanting to fight. Anthony Joshua came out looking at boxing.

“There was no warm-up or rest in the fight, just ‘come out and let your hands go'” Bellew said in an interview with Instant Casino’s Liam Solomon. Bellew is a former cruiserweight titleholder who is currently a boxing commentator and is also friends with Joshua.

“Joshua went out and started fencing, and when you start fencing with that jab, if your jab isn’t acute and powerful at the beginning of the fight, you’re going to let someone in. This is a weapon, it is not a rangefinder. This is not a toy. This should be used as a weapon at the beginning of the fight.

“Lennox Lewis did it brilliantly. After stabbing Lennox Lewis, he would come out and be the first to let them know who was bossing them around. Boom, boom, straight down the pipe and then it’s easier for him to get inside. Then the odd jab will be a speed jab and it will be a variation of the jab. But at the beginning of the fight everything has to be acute and swift. You don’t want to get counted out and catch a frigid early in the fight.

Joshua was caught with a tidy right hand early in the first and then knocked down as the round came to an end. Joshua returned to the canvas time and again, getting knocked down in the third and fourth rounds. He had some success in the fifth set and became overconfident, executing a right chinlock while dropping his left hand, leaving himself wide open for Dubois’ compact right-hand counter, which was a devastating punch that knocked Joshua to his knees.

“He just didn’t let go of his hands and that’s really the bottom line,” Bellew said. “If Anthony Joshua meets him face to face and lets go of his hands, it will be George Foreman and Ron Lyle again, but I tell you what, it will be over even faster. I think it’s to Anthony Joshua’s advantage. But apparently he didn’t feel the same. His team didn’t feel the same and adopted a different game plan. I understand that what I am saying is very risky. And that is risky. But when your attributes stack better than your opponent’s – when you’re a little faster than your opponent, stronger, have better technical skills, better footwork, better defense – I don’t understand why you don’t get into exchanges with them right away.

“With the analogy I just gave, if you’re a little faster, you’ll get there first. If you are a little more explosive, the shots will be more damaging. He just didn’t take that approach and that’s his and the team’s fault.”

Bellew disagreed with those who believe that Joshua’s past success in the sport, whether it be his two world titles or the riches he has acquired, has taken away from his current hunger. There is a saying often attributed to Marvelous Marvin Hagler about how complex it is to get out of bed early for road work when you sleep in silk pajamas.

“The last thing Anthony Joshua has is the silk pajama effect,” Bellew said. “I watched him in training camp in Texas with players like Derrick James. I saw how he worked and how much he put into his preparations. He is one of the best athletes I have ever seen in heavyweight boxing, if not the best athlete and specimen. What happened was that in the first round he was shaken to the boots, and a right hook would have knocked out the horse. To get up and continue fighting after being pinned so difficult, you’ve seen stills and leisurely shots. It’s on the button. This is a bull’s-eye. There’s nothing wrong with Anthony Joshua’s beard because he stood up.

“I think the ‘silk pajama effect’ is a uninteresting and uncomplicated analogy to represent. He goes in there. He’s in great shape,” Bellew said. He soon added: “The only thing that lifts your spirit is physical fitness. How fit are you? And as we know, the return to form takes place during the 14 weeks before the fight, during the camp. Anthony Joshua gets up from the floor after a hammer blow, mate, and getting up like that shows how fit he was. To be in such shape, you have to work difficult at camp.