Mikaela Mayer’s ambition causes her to run towards challenges, not away from them.

The decorated Rio 2016 Olympian and former world champion is 19-2 (5 KO) and only wants massive fights.

On Friday evening at Madison Square Garden’s Theater she will face English WBO champion Sandy Ryan.

“My goal and the goal that has always been for me is to challenge myself against the best,” Mayer said. “I want to organize the biggest fights possible. I’m not just chasing anyone or anyone. I don’t worry too much about what’s on paper or how many belts I get. It’s more about do I challenge myself against top-notch opponents and put together fights that fans want to see? And regardless of the ups and downs in my career, I feel like I’ve always done that.

The 34-year-old last boxed in the UK in January, when she came off an entertaining split decision defeat to Liverpool’s Natasha Jonas.

Both boxers wanted a rematch, but the organizers failed to achieve a draw above the line.

“We both tried very challenging to make this rematch happen,” Mayer explained. “It wasn’t Natasha, it wasn’t me, there were no problems with negotiations and all those little things that usually prevent fights, Boxxer just wasn’t able to give us a date. This is unfortunate because everything else was perfectly aligned and working and it got to the point where I had to move on. I had to start looking for other fights. Me and Jonas fought in January and now it’s September.”

The Jonas fight was Mayer’s fourth consecutive fight in the UK, and she now fights the British boxer in Modern York.

Mayer is excited to be back on American soil.

“I fought in the Garden my first few fights, I think it was Lomachenko [vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux in December 2017] undercard, so I’ve been there, but I’ve never been a headliner, so it’s a huge step forward and obviously something I’m excited about and a great fight ahead of us,” Mayer said. “It’s not just any vintage fight, it’s going to be a great fight between two quality opponents with a bit of history, so it’s perfect for the main event.

“I’m glad to be back in the United States. I think a lot of people expected me to come back a little earlier, but from a business perspective the UK was where I needed to be and I would come back if I had to. I’m the type of warrior who does what I have to do. Sometimes I take risks and put myself in positions that most fighters wouldn’t do, but that’s because I really don’t care. I just want to fight, give it my all and put it all on the line, so I stayed in the UK.

“I’m actually surprised that Sandy agreed to come to the United States and have it on my card. She’s a champion, which isn’t always the norm, but at the end of the day, I know you can make a bad decision anywhere. Corruption in refereeing is everywhere. In boxing you always need a bit of luck, so no matter where I am, I know I have to fight every second, every round. I don’t think, “Oh, it’s in my backyard, I have a better chance.” I don’t think so at all, because I’ve been there and I know what it feels like, so I’m not going to take that risk again. But I’m glad to be back at Top Rank. Now that I’m in the US, more friends and family can come, so I’m definitely joyful to be back.”

There is also bad blood. Last year, Ryan stepped out of her comfort zone and moved to the United States to work on her craft. But she moved to the popular DLX Boxing Gym, where Mayer trained.

This created a tense atmosphere and Ryan subsequently left, but did so with a up-to-date coach.

“It was a little frustrating over the last few years to have to get back to the world title,” Mayer recalled. “Not only that, but I moved up three weight classes, moved to Vegas and ended up switching teams, not all of them, but some of the people on my team, so there’s been a lot of moving parts to it over the last two years, but now I truly understand why all this had to happen. I feel better than ever. I feel more confident in my corner than ever before, I’ve settled into this welterweight weight class, I feel powerful and I’m starting to think, ‘OK, now I understand why all this happened,’ it happened for a reason.” The stars are aligning for me and I feel great. Sometimes you have to double check to find out why.

Mayer has worked with famed amateur trainer Al Mitchell throughout her career, but she also worked with former junior middleweight and middleweight fighter Kofi Jantuah in Vegas.

That’s how things went at this camp after DLX stalwart Kay Koroma started working with Ryan.

“Kay knew I was 147 now, she knew I was 147. So the problem is on both sides,” Mayer explained. “First of all, as a competitor, I would never go to camp knowing that there was a top competitor in my division. This just seems like a weird move. And of course, as a coach with whom I have been working for almost ten years, I would not decide to fight my competition. I would remain steadfast, but that’s just me. Not everyone is like me. So it is what it is. They made the decision they wanted to make and did what was best for them, so I had to do the same. It took me some time to make this decision, I thought it through very carefully and I approached it very carefully, but ultimately I have to have a corner that I trust and believe in. Ultimately, it was the best decision because now I feel like I have reached a higher level. Really. I feel like I’m in an even better situation and that’s why I go back to saying, “OK, it worked out for a reason.”

Mayer expects to see Koroma in the corner opposite her on fight night.

“I would be surprised if that wasn’t the case. It should be. That’s her coach,” Mayer said. “Coach K tried to tell me this: ‘I’m giving her Flick’ – Flick is his assistant coach – I know they’re all a team, they all train together, so you can’t separate it, but that’s one of the reasons I knew I had to get out eventually when I turned on the TV [Ryan vs. Terri] Harper and Ryan are fighting and Coach K was in her corner when he told me she wouldn’t be there.

“He told me he wasn’t going.”

Mayer’s claims come from a place of nonchalance. She is clearly joyful with her own training set, and despite the resentment that has arisen, she is joyful with her own training set.

“Of course, Coach Al, my number one guy, will always be by my side,” she added. “I have been with him from the beginning. Coach Al is here, but he lives in Michigan, he’s a little older, so he’s not as physical in the gym, with me on pads and all that. I still need this job. He’s still the eyes, the ears, the mind, everything behind it, but I’m working with Kofi Jantuah here in Las Vegas between camps, leading up to camp, and then Coach Al starts working on the game plan and making sure I’m on P.S. and Qs and I’m doing everything right.”

Ryan is 7-1-1 and impressed against Harper. The Derby woman also has Mayer’s respect as a player.

“Sandy Ryan is a good fighter. “I don’t chase fighters who aren’t talented, who I don’t respect to some extent when it comes to their boxing ability,” Mayer said. “Maybe I don’t respect them as a person, some of them. I don’t pretend to be my rivals, so they either are or they aren’t, but she’s a good fighter. There’s a reason she’s a champion. We’re both massive girls too. I think we’re usually the bigger girls in a fight, but I think we’ll be up to the challenge this time. We have that amateur pedigree. So two very talented fighters are fighting for it and obviously we both want to take home the belt. These are the fights I want.

“She looked good against Terri Harper. She looked confident, powerful, pushed Terri Harper away and… [made] buckle and in a sense she gave up. I don’t know, it was obvious from the beginning that Harper wasn’t really in the fight, but again, I think Sandy is a level above Harper. I’m not Terri Harper. Sandy hasn’t really stepped into the ring with someone with my experience and skills yet, so what she did to Harper won’t be what she does to me.

Mayer’s desires and ambitions go beyond the WBO champion Ryan will bring. He also has projects on his unfinished business with Jonas and Welsh belt holder Lauren Price. There may be fights at 154 pounds, but Mayer thinks she can be better than ever at 147.

“As I said, everything is not ready yet,” she added. “I still feel like I’m getting better every day. I’m still developing. I still haven’t peaked. I didn’t start practicing this sport until later in life. I was 18, so you never stop learning boxing and it takes a really long time to get to a really high level, so I still have a lot to offer. These are just great fights. I know these are the fights that the fans will enjoy, the fights that the fans want to see. This has always been really vital to me. We’re killing the sport by just taking these basic fights, worrying about losing 0, and I want to be an example that it doesn’t matter if you lose, if you fight your best, that’s vital and that shouldn’t demean the rest of your career. You shouldn’t get rejected because you challenged the best and lost 0. I think I had great fights. I think I’m a massive draw. I still think that the fighters will gain a lot from fighting me. I know that my last seven opponents have made the most money in their lives by fighting me, whether I have the belt or not. I still know I bring a lot to the table, I have a lot of skills and I’m just getting better.

Mayer may be 34 years vintage, but there is no end in sight to his career. There is no wish list to fill out or boxes to check off because she doesn’t feel like time is running out on her career. He will fight for a while, but what next? What happens when he decides to close the stall door? He doesn’t pay much attention to it, preparing for Ryan, unification and massive fights, not life after boxing, which won’t start any time soon.

“I commentate a lot for ESPN and a bit for Sky. I just worked on the Olympics with NBC, so I feel like maybe it’s a natural thing for me to pursue this full-time,” she said. “We’ll see. But it’s challenging to focus on the next step when I’m still so focused on this part of my career.

“But it’s good to experiment a little and have that option when I decide to retire. But I’m an extremist. When I’m focused on something, I commit to it 100 percent. When I’m done with this, I’ll let you know.”