Alycia Baumgardner wins split decision over Mikaela Mayer to claim unified junior lightweight title

Final result: Alycia Baumgardner wins a split decision with two scores of 96-95 while Mayer claimed a 97-93 scorecard

Women’s boxing gets a huge spotlight Saturday afternoon at O2 Arena in London. An all-women’s card is topped by Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall’s middleweight showdown, but it is preceded by a massive junior lightweight bout. Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner face off with the WBC, WBO, IBF, and The Ring titles all on the line.

Mayer holds the WBO, IBF, and The Ring titles having successfully retained them in her last bout, a unanimous decision win over Jennifer Han in April. Baumgardner holds the WBC and IBO titles and is coming off an April unanimous decision victory over Edith Soledad Matthysse.

Mayer comes into the bout as the favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook. She is a -285 favorite while Baumgardner is a +220 underdog. A Mayer decision is the favored fight outcome at -190 while a Baumgardner decision follows at +400. A Baumgardner stoppage is +600 and a Mayer stoppage is +850.

Mikaela Mayer vs. Alycia Baumgardner round-by-round results

Round 1: Baumgardner 10-9

Baumgardner was more aggressive and was successful in getting inside with some head shots. Mayer tried to establish the distance with her jab, but Baumgardner had more success.

Round 2: Baumgardner 10-9 (20-18)

Another strong round for Baumgardner. She is landing the heavier shots and Mayer is just not getting much together.

Round 3: Baumgardner 10-9 (30-27)

Another solid round from Baumgardner, landing some power and also stopping Mayer with the jab. Baumgardner is starting to talk trash in the ring and knows she’s in control.

Round 4: Mayer 10-9 (Baumgardner 39-37)

Mayer had a strong bounceback in the fourth round. She started pushing and consistently landed more punches. She ended the round emphatically with a left hook that staggered Baumgardner.

Round 5: Mayer 10-9 (Baumgardner 48-47)

This was the closest round of the bout with neither side jumping too far ahead. Slight lean to Mayer with a few better counters, but this round could go either way. At one point, Mayer had her head bent down and Baumgardner pushed to the ground. One has to wonder if there was some frustration there.

Round 6: Mayer 10-9 (57-57)

This fight has turned into a toss-up and the rounds are reflecting that. This is the second straight round Mayer likely had the edge and landed more punches, but it wasn’t so clear that there’s no guarantees the judges would agree.

Round 7: Baumgardner 10-9 (67-66)

This was the funnest round of the fight thus far. Both fighters were swinging big, but Baumgardner landed the bigger shots. She managed a cut over Mayer’s eye and she’s pouncing. This was a huge bounce-back round for Baumgardner.

Round 8: Baumgardner 10-9 (77-75)

Neither fighter jumped out for much of the first minute, but Baumgardner landed a nice three-punch combination at the one minute mark. With Mayer not able to do much in the final minute, that was likely enough to secure the round.

Round 9: Mayer 10-9 (Baumgardner 86-85)

It felt like Mayer landed with more consistency this round. Baumgardner was competitive, but Mayer was landing the jab in particular with some regularity.

Round 10: Baumgardner 10-9 (Baumgardner 96-94)

Neither fighter really pushed too hard in this round until the final couple seconds. Baumgardner threw some big shots in the end and while none landed too heavily, it might have been enough to steal the round and solidify what would be a huge victory in her young career.