Mayer: My 2024 – One Belt, Three Wins; 2025 I’m Coming For The Rest Of The [Welterweight] Belts

Mikaela Mayer can one day see herself as the undisputed welterweight champion.

For now, she’s content to know that a win over Natasha Jonas on Saturday will give her the only belt—the IBF welterweight title—she plans to collect during this calendar year.  

“I have my year already mapped out, contracted out,” Mayer informed BoxingScene.com. “Natasha and I have a rematch clause. So after this fight there will be a rematch, assuming she loses. I don’t have a rematch clause if I lose, which I don’t plan on doing so that’s okay. So next would be a rematch in April.

“After that, there is an opponent who will face the winner. For obvious reasons, I can’t discuss that. But because I already know my year, I will only have one belt by the end of the year—one belt, three wins and one more zero added to my bank account.”

Jonas-Mayer will air live on Sky Sports in the U.K. and ESPN+ in the U.S. beginning at 7:00 p.m. GMT and 2:00 p.m. ET from M&S Bank Arena in Jonas’ hometown of Liverpool, England.

The bout will mark the fourth straight trip to the U.K. for Mayer (19-1, 5KOs), where she will likely remain throughout this year. The Los Angeles born, former unified junior lightweight titlist who represented the U.S. in the 2016 Rio Olympics saw her title reign end in an October 2022 disputed split decision to Alycia Baumgardner in London. She has since rebounded with two wins in 2023, at lightweight and just above the junior welterweight limit in Hackney Wick and Manchester, respectively.

One more move up the scales left Mayer in position to become a two-division titlist. She enters Saturday’s main event as a slight underdog but is brimming with confidence that it will set up a huge year for her career. Jonas was afforded a one-way rematch clause as the defending titlist. A second win over Jonas will set up an opportunity that Mayer has kept under wraps but describes as big enough to delay her goal to fully unify the 147-pound division.

That will have to come next year.

“Just know that in 2025, I’m coming for the rest of the belts,” Mayer vowed. “I like 147 because all the belts are spread out. I can collect them fight by fight.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox