“Boxing is unique in a way that there’s a lot of trash talk and then we go in the ring and we punch each other in the face.”
Mikaela Mayer might currently be riding the crest of a wave as a three-weight world champion since October and recently signed a multi-year contract with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions but is matter-of-fact when it comes to her sport.
She knows the pitfalls. The hate that comes your way when things in the ring don’t go to plan like four years ago when she was coping with unfamiliar territory, reeling in her first professional career defeat to Alycia Baumgardner by split decision.
“I think for me the roughest time was coming off my first loss. I was dealing with the pressures of my own career and my own goals and what I want to accomplish, so you have a feeling that I’ve failed myself and then you hop online and you have the world bashing you,” Mayer told Sky Sports.
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An in-depth look at the problem of online abuse in women’s sport
“It’s like, because we’re the ones talking trash, they feel they can talk trash too, so it’s definitely a struggle because you’re dealing with your own pain and you’re trying to keep yourself motivated, hungry and you go online and you’re being bashed and you feel that the world hates you.”
Mayer says the experience made her stronger and credits her team around her with building her confidence again as she returned to the ring six months later and debuting at lightweight, clinched the WBC interim lightweight title.
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Mikaela Mayer became unified super-welterweight champion after a commanding unanimous points victory over Mary Spencer in Montreal. Coverage courtesy of Top Rank Boxing
“It’s not easy to deal with, but I think over time and experience you learn to navigate a little better and with a good team around you, good management, good friends who tell you to keep your spirits high and keep you on track. Even when you’re feeling like ‘man, how is this all going to turn out in the end?’. You’ve just got to keep showing up with a good, solid support team.”
Promoting fights just becomes part of a boxer’s routine in order to boost sales and keep your name in the headlines. But Mayer has learned a cruel lesson that even when you suffer losses, something she has only done twice in her career – she was also beaten by Natasha Jonas in Liverpool in 2024, it’s important not to let the haters win.
Because we’re the ones talking trash, they feel they can talk trash too, so it’s definitely a struggle because you’re dealing with your own pain and you go online and you’re being bashed and you feel that the world hates you.
“I definitely pulled back from social media a lot after my first loss. It took me a couple of years to get back to that mental state.
“I’m good now but looking back I was really going through it, so I did fall off social media for a little bit.
“So that’s another bit of advice I’d give: Don’t fall off. Don’t let the criticism hold you back and disappear from everything you’ve built already. You’ve got to keep the momentum going. You’ve got to stay strong mentally to do that. You’ve got to block out the noise, keep showing up, keep building your fan base. It’s not easy but time and experience helps.”
Mikaela Mayer pulled back from social media after her first loss
‘We have to put ourselves out there’
It’s a quandary our sportswomen face, not just in boxing but across women’s sport. While athletes look to promote themselves and their sports to reach new audiences, they are putting themselves in a vulnerable position and opening themselves to potential online toxicity.
As Wales and Saracens rugby international Georgia Evans told Sky Sports, when opening up on the social media abuse she encountered last autumn during the Women’s World Cup for choosing to wear bows in her hair and trying to raise the profile of her sport on her social platforms.
“It’s tough because we’re always fighting to be equal with the men but you have to acknowledge the fact that women’s sport is very different to men’s,” Evans said.
“I love that the World Cup [last year] showed that we have fans that follow individual players because that’s who they relate to in some way or another.
“Social media is so big that we can show the different personalities and it’s sort of the new world because women are much more forward because we have to put ourselves out there to enable us to get that equality with the men. Whereas the men don’t have to do social media as much. That’s the big thing. So, we’re fighting for that equality but you have to acknowledge the differences, that’s what makes women’s sport so incredible.”
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WBO Welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer is a fighter very much in demand, but who does she want to fight next?
Mayer also accepts that social media is a tool for female boxers to promote themselves but also wants them to find a unique selling point to set them apart from their rivals.
“I’ve said this to girls coming up: ‘As a female coming into the sport, it’s not good enough just to be a good boxer’. You have to look the part. You have to go out there and promote yourself and do all these extra things. Being a good boxer isn’t enough.
“There are a lot of great boxers, who still haven’t made their way to the top because we’ve had to pick and choose who we want to be ‘the face of the sport’, there’s definitely a challenge there. It’s not good enough just to be talented.
“Find something. Find a gimmick. Find something that maybe separates you from everybody else, that will catch the attention of the fans and make them want to see you.”
