Former unified super featherweight world champion Mikaela Mayer is expected to move up to the lightweight division for her next fight and will face Christina Linardatou, as reported by Michael Rothstein of ESPN.
Mayer (17−1, 5 KOs) is coming off her first professional defeat, a highly controversial decision loss to rival Alycia Baumgardner on October 15th in England.
The 32-year-old Los Angeles native has expressly called for a rematch, but Baumgardner doesn’t seem very interested and is set to face Elhem Mekhaled herself on February 4 in New York, which will be an undisputed title fight at 59kg.
Mayer had previously hinted at a move to lightweight and she may well stay there considering she struggled to make weight in her last fight in October.
Probably the biggest concern is that there are potentially bigger fights at 61kg, including undisputed champion Katie Taylor, someone Mayer has said he wants to face.
Linardatou (14−2, 6 KO) is a 34-year-old Greek boxer who was WBO world champion in 2019. Her two losses came against Delfine Persoon and the aforementioned Katie Taylor, and she has a win over Baumgardner, a decision shared in 2018 in a scheduled eight-round bout. She is a very solid first opponent for Mayer who is rising and has won back-to-back fights.
No date or place has yet been set, but March or April is expected to be the most plausible.
(more to follow)
