This past Friday night I happened to be at the Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida for the game between the Miami Hurricanes and Virginia Tech Hokies. It was a memorable affair that literally came down to the last play. As the officials overturned the Hokies ''Hail Mary'' (good call, by the way), ESPN went over to the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The latest card from Top Rank featured a main event between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer for the WBO welterweight title with young contenders Bruce Carrington and Xander Zayas in supporting bouts.
Like their other shows this fall, most of them will be taking place on Friday. The reason is very simple: college football is kinda important to ESPN, as are those Saturday night prime time slots on the network.
After recovering from the near cardiac arrest the 'Canes gave me and a full day of watching college football, I was able to watch this card on Sunday morning while still in Miami. Yeah, that ESPN+ comes in handy. Some thoughts on what I saw...
- The main event featured a female title fight that was a true grudge match. Coming into this contest Mayer and Ryan got sideways over the services of trainer Kay Karoma (who had been in the corner of Mayer for much of her pro career), and then made the decision to link up with Ryan. There were especially harsh feelings from Mayer who has never been afraid to express her feelings.
There was added drama as Ryan was subjected to a drive-by shooting -- but fortunately she wasn't strewn with a hail of bullets, but some Dutch Boy. She got painted up as she was going to the arena from the fight hotel. It added to the tension and drama of what was already a heated lead-up.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
But none of this should take away from the fight itself, which was an entertaining battle. Ryan, the defending champion kept putting on the steady pressure throughout the bout, with Mayer holding her off by boxing from the outside and circling the ring while letting her long punches go liberally.
This was a tough, hard-fought bout that could've gone either way. But when the decision was rendered it was Mayer up by the scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 95-95. It's the type of fight that is worthy of another go-around. Mayer-Ryan is now clearly a rivalry.
Mikaela Mayer Regains Champ Status Vs Sandy Ryan | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
Perhaps this is some karmic justice for Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) who in the past lost excruciatingly close bouts to Alycia Baumgardner and Natasha Jonas (which was truly a dubious decision) in the past. Not that it should've really mattered for this particular fight, but you got the sense that Mayer was due to catch a break at some point.
Mayer said, "It was similar to how I thought it would go. I always said before that I respected Sandy as a boxer. She has a big pedigree, just like myself, but I knew I was gonna beat her to the punch. I knew I was faster. I knew I was sharper. And that's exactly what I did."
Mikey Williams/ Top Rank
As for Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) , she leaves without her title, and understandably embittered by what took place before the fight.
"I'm obviously disappointed, and I'm not taking nothing away from the decision. But before coming to the venue, I don't know if you guys seen, but I had a hit and run {with paint outside the hotel}. And that was definitely set up. I'm not taking nothing away from the win, but it unsettled me," she admitted.
- In the co-main event, Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KOs) remained undefeated with a solid workmanlike effort over the rugged Damian Sosa (25-3, 12 KOs). But while he put in a good nights work, once again, Zayas left you wanting just a little bit more.
Again, Zayas is just 22 years old. You would like to think that his best boxing is ahead of him. He's a sound technician inside the ring but you wish he punched just a little bit harder. And it's not that he is feather fisted, he's a solid puncher. But as the business of boxing (and really, Top Rank) search for the next Puerto Rican star, you're waiting for him to make that definitive statement that he is him.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In the past, the likes of Felix Trindid and Miguel Cotto were able to get rid of guys in style, and it captured the hearts of those on the island and the East Coast as they became major draws in the big room of the Garden. Again, how win matters in this business.
Regardless, it was a good night's work put in by the amiable Zayas. It will be interesting to see when the brain trust of Top Rank and his management believes he will be ready for the elite at 154.
Xander Zayas Puts On A Clinic In New York | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS + INTERVIEW
Zayas said, “He pushed me and elevated me to the next level. Now, I feel like I'm ready. Before, I felt like I was ready. But now I think I let everybody know that I'm ready for the elite names."
- Bruce Carrington (13-0, 8 KOs) got all he could handle from the difficult Sulaiman Segawa in the opening bout of the main broadcast. Carrington is a prospect I've been very high on, and he's created a pretty good buzz for himself by scoring some highlight reel KO's. But there would be nothing of the sort on this night as the southpaw Segawa -- who had defeated the top rated Ruben Villa over the summer -- wasn't going by the script.
After 10 difficult stanzas it was Carrington winning by the tallies of 97-93 (twice) and 95-95.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Segawa (17-5-1, 6 KOs) is one of those hard-nosed guys who don't go gently into the night. At times he pressed 'Shu Shu' and at other times boxed him with his southpaw style. He made Carrington think and work at the same time. It's the type of experience that will come in handy when he makes the leap towards the featherweight elite. Carrington whose maturity and self-awareness is rare, understood what he had just gone through.
"I owe him a lot {for that education tonight}. This is just gonna get me to the next level. I just learned to deal with the off-tempo. I got a couple of things I gotta work on back in the gym," Carrington. "We gotta get back on our beat and have more dominant performances. But as long as we got the ‘W’ at the end of the day, we’re still good.”
As they say: win tonight, look good next time