Sandy Ryan was hit with a can of red paint before losing her WBO welterweight world title to Mikaela Mayer in New York as she pointed the finger at her rival over the incident.
Tensions had been high prior to the fight, with Mayer accusing Ryan of poaching her long-standing coaching team, which Ryan denied. Ryan had said she did not respect her opponent, accusing her of talking “trash”.
But the spiteful rivalry escalated when Ryan was splashed with red paint ahead of the fight, before claiming she had been “set up”.
Ryan took the ring at Madison Square Garden as scheduled, despite being advised by her trainer to pull out of the bout, but lost on a majority decision, leaving Mayer as the world champion.
Mayer had the upper hand in tense exchanges in the ring, clinching victory with scores of 97-93 and 96-94, overruling one judge’s 95-95 draw – but the paint incident dominated the talks afterwards.
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Sandy Ryan believes Mikaela Mayer’s team was behind the paint-throwing incident as she left her hotel to come to her WBO welterweight title defence – but Mayer disputed that accusation
After the fight, Ryan said: “Before coming to the venue, 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.”
“Walking to the venue, I was shook up. And then it threw me off a bit of my game plan because I just wanted to fight. And you saw at the start of the fight, I was handling her quite well on the jab. I was boxing her and then I started to pick it up. But then, I was obviously pushing it too hard.”
Mayer ‘surprised’ by incident: ‘I would never go that far’
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Mayer denied being involved in the incident that saw paint thrown at Ryan ahead of their clash
Mayer denied any involvement and later told Sky Sports News: “I was just as surprised as everyone else. I was still upstairs, waiting for the call that my car was there.
“I heard that paint had been thrown on Sandy. I had no idea. I was shocked. I thought it was horrible. I would never go that far.
“Then I heard that she thought it had something to do with me and my team, which is disappointing. Obviously Sandy is my rival and my opponent but I would never go that far.
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Mayer reacts to her WBO welterweight title victory over Ryan who believes the pre-fight paint-throwing incident ‘unsettled her’
“She was very adamant that someone on my team had set her up and done that, which is completely false, but in my eyes it pumped her up. She was even more aggressive, trying to take my head off.
“I don’t know how it affected her. Obviously it was not cool at all and I wish it didn’t happen but when that bell rings, all the build-up goes out of the window and you zone in.”
“I heard after the fight that they were almost going to call it off and back out. That hits me hard. I’m so glad they didn’t. I’m really sorry that happened to her, especially being a guest in my country. It’s unacceptable.”
Mayer’s undisputed target after ‘deserved’ win
Mikaela Mayer beat bitter rival Sandy Ryan via majority decision to capture the WBO welterweight world title. Pic: Top Rank
The well-documented feud, together with the incident beforehand saw the animosity spill into the ring.
Mayer’s strategy was to avoid Ryan’s hooks, but left herself open to counter rights and lefts as Ryan worked to keep the pressure on.
It paid off for the Briton when a hook in the sixth round made Mayer stumble, but the American responded with a powerful counter in the eighth.
Mayer said after the fight: “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 going to beat her to the punch. I knew I was faster. I knew I was sharper. And that’s exactly what I did.”
“There’s no rematch clause but you know me; I’m always willing to give the fans the fight that they want to see, so we’ll go back and talk and do what we gotta do.
“There are a lot of great fights for me in the welterweight division. Everyone knows my goal, which is to finish where I started and become undisputed.”