In a dramatic twist before her WBO welterweight world title defense, British boxer Sandy Ryan has accused Mikaela Mayer’s camp of orchestrating a ‘hit and run’ attack that saw her struck with a tin of red paint. The shocking incident unfolded just before Ryan’s highly anticipated bout with Mayer at Madison Square Garden, leaving the British star unsettled before the fight. However, Mayer has firmly denied the accusations, calling them “completely false.”
Ryan, who was aiming for her third successful title defense, was doused in red paint while leaving her hotel en route to the fight. According to Ryan, a hooded figure threw a tin of paint at her, hitting her in the stomach before fleeing the scene in a car.
“I was getting into my car when something smashed into my stomach,” Ryan told ESPN before the fight. “I looked down, and it was a tin of paint. I looked up and saw a guy in a hood running away. It was a hit and run.”
Ryan strongly believed that Mayer’s team was behind the attack, adding, “We’ve got pictures and videos. It’s definitely a setup. Who else would do this?”
The incident further fueled the tension between the two fighters, who were already engaged in a bitter rivalry. Ryan had been working with Mayer’s former coach, Kay Koroma, after moving to the same gym, which led to Mayer splitting with Koroma.
Despite the chaos, the fight went ahead, with Mayer ultimately defeating Ryan by majority decision. Two judges scored the bout 97-93 and 96-94 in Mayer’s favor, while a third judge scored it a draw at 95-95.
Following the fight, Mayer expressed shock over the accusations, stating that neither she nor her team had any involvement in the paint attack. “I was just as surprised as everyone else,” Mayer told Sky Sports. “I thought it was horrible, and I would never go that far. It’s disappointing that she thought it had something to do with me.”
Mayer, who moved up to the welterweight division, is now setting her sights on becoming the undisputed world champion. Ryan, meanwhile, faces the challenge of bouncing back from the second defeat of her professional career.
The shocking pre-fight drama has left a cloud of controversy over what was already a high-stakes bout, with fans and pundits alike questioning the events leading up to Ryan’s loss. The rivalry between these two fierce competitors is far from over, with Mayer denying any wrongdoing and Ryan standing by her accusations
Leave a Reply