Fast Results from the Bubble: A Virtuoso Performance by Mikaela Mayer

During his long, off-and-on relationship with ESPN,  indefatigable Top Rank honcho Bob Arum had never promoted a women’s fight as a main event. That changed tonight when the featured attraction pit Mikaela Mayer against Helen Joseph. Of course, this was the main event by default when COVID-19 testing wiped out the headliner between Jamel Herring and Jonathan Oquendo, pushing it back into August.

Mayer, a 2016 Olympian, faced her toughest test to date and passed the test with flying colors, winning every round on two of the scorecards and nine rounds on the other to advance her record to13-0. She out-worked the rugged but one-dimensional Joseph, a Nigerian by birth, who fell to 17-5-2.

Mayer was without her longtime coach Al Mitchell, but was in good hands with Kay Koroma and Manny Robles in her corner. Mikaela fights well off the back foot and puts her punches together nicely, but like most women boxers doesn’t get much leverage behind her punches.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight contest between two fighters with MMA backgrounds, Clay Collard (8-2-3 (3 KOs) overpowered LT Nelson (5-4), knocking him down three times before the bout was stopped in the second round. Collard, who won’t win any awards for athleticism, has been the surprise hit of the Top Rank summer series. The Cache Valley, Utah “everyman” roughed up highly-touted David Kaminsky in his previous start and is 3-0 under the Top Rank/ESPN umbrella.

In a 6-round lightweight contest, Ruben Cervera, a 22-year-old Colombian, improved to 12-2 with a unanimous decision over Clay Burns (9-9-2). A 33-year-old ex-Marine now fighting out of Fort Worth, Burns seldom took a backward step but was out-classed by a fighter with faster hands. It was Burns’ second loss inside the “Bubble” after losing a split decision to Reymond Yanang on June. 25.

In the TV opener, Milwaukee’s Javier Martinez, a five-time national amateur champion who turned pro rather than accept his role as a 2021 USA Olympic Team alternate, won his debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Jonathan Burrs (2-2).  The scores were 40-36 across the board but Burrs, who arrived in Las Vegas unattached, made a very credible showing.

Top Rank returns to the so-called Bubble at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Thursday. An appealing undercard girds the main event, a 10-round featherweight tilt between Miguel Marriaga and Mark John Yap.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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