Let’s start off with a confession: I don’t know who decided to throw a bucket of paint on Sandy Ryan as she was leaving her hotel in New York in September to defend her WBO welterweight title against Mikaela Mayer.
Nor do I know why the culprit pulled such a dastardly stunt.
What I do know is that the stunt is despicable and whoever did it should be prosecuted for it.
As Mayer and Ryan prepare to rematch on Saturday at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas — this time with Mayer as champion — it’s worth for a moment looking back at Sept. 27 if only as a means to understand how the rematch might go.
Mayer won a majority decision in an outstanding bout to lift the belt from Ryan. Judges Waleska Roldan (97-93) and Benoit Roussel (96-94) had it for Mayer while judge Bob Williams scored it even.
“The rivalry between the pair spilled over in New York, and there’s certainly no love lost between them,” Ryan promoter Eddie Hearn said. “But when they got in the ring at Madison Square Garden, they delivered one of the fights of the year for 2024. Although Mikaela got the nod last time, it was a pick ’em fight with only a coat of paint to separate them.”
Did he say, “With only a coat of paint between them?”
Hearn is no dummy and that was no coincidental reference. He knew exactly what he was doing with that line.
It was a clever, deliberate reference to the incident that’s become inseparable from this rivalry. Behind his wordplay lies the question everyone’s been dancing around since that night in New York:
What impact did the incident have upon Ryan?
Put yourself in her shoes for a moment. You’re heading to work and as you exit the hotel you’re in, a car slows down, someone leans out and hurls a bucket filled with red paint at you.
You’re heading to a meeting, not a fight.
But you’re scared, of course, because you don’t know what happened. You’re angry, because there’s no reason why it happened. You clean up, change your clothes and head back out, but how do you shake off what just happened?
Won’t you be irate? Won’t thoughts flood your mind, replaying the incident, trying to come up with a suspect? Could you focus when you arrived at work, knowing what had just happened, especially in a foreign country?
Everyone is different and my reaction to that occurring may be different than yours, and everyone’s would be different than Ryan’s. She’d traveled to a foreign country, where her opponent is from, and for some reason was assaulted.
She had no idea who had done it or why, though of course her suspicions centered around Mayer and Mayer’s team. Mayer vehemently denied any knowledge of it, and there is zero evidence pinning her to it.
But if it was just a random prank by a couple of idiots who thought it was fun, it’s not going to put you into the best frame of mind as you’re heading to work.
“I’m not making excuses, but after what happened before the fight last time, I did fight in anger, and it clearly affected my performance,” Ryan said.
That’s where things get tricky. Her clothes were ruined. She wasn’t physically injured, but the emotional toll is harder to measure.
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Mikaela Mayer (L) won a majority decision over Sandy Ryan on Sept. 27 in New York to claim the WBO welterweight title. They rematch on Saturday.
If we judge by what we do know, well, the fight was outstanding and Ryan performed beautifully. I thought she’d won 96-94. She was actually ahead on two of the three cards after seven rounds.
If the fight had ended at that point, she’d have retained her belt. It went three more rounds and Mayer swept the last three on two of the three cards and won eight and 10 on the third card.
That enabled her to pull out the fight.
Ryan alluded to the paint incident as she discussed her focus for the rematch.
“This time, I will be fully prepared for whatever comes my way,” she said.
What I can’t get away from is the idea that she fought angry, and that impacted her negatively. It is 100 percent an issue for fighters to struggle when they allow emotion to impact their performance.
Are we to believe, though, that she didn’t fight angry the first seven rounds, when she was in command, but did in the final three?
I’m not sure I buy that.
Mayer and Top Rank were smart enough to make the rematch. The fight card’s 107-minute broadcast window averaged 933,000, which is very good, particularly given it went on the air at 11:30 p.m. That also doesn’t include viewership on ESPN Deportes, or ESPN+. ESPN never releases ESPN+ viewing figures.
There was ample reason to make the rematch, but it wouldn’t have occurred without Mayer’s blessing. And she was all in.
“I’ve never been one to shy away from challenges,” Mayer said. “I could have taken my belt and moved on, but it was a highly entertaining fight, and if this is what the fans want, then that’s what I’ll give them. I have stayed in the gym and am getting better every day. It will be worse for Sandy this time, but regardless, expect another action-packed fight.”
The odds — even money at DraftKings sportsbook — suggest that Mayer is correct.
The table is set for Ryan, who never sought sympathy, only fairness, to prove her point.
No one will douse her with paint Saturday on the way to the ballroom where the fight will be held. No one will assault her or harass her in any way.
She’s getting what she wanted: Another crack at what she still calls “my belt.” And mostly, she’s getting a fully level playing field.
Let’s see how it goes when the only thing that’s splashed in red is the WBO title belt.