Mikaela Mayer defeated former champion Jennifer Han in defense of her WBO and IBF lightweight titles in an ESPN main event of a Top Tank Promotions fight card from The Hanger in Costa Mesa, California.
“I feel like I did a lot of good things in there. Her movement, I think,is what she does best and it throws you off. She gets her spacing in a little bit, so I had to throw her off and stay behind the jab. Coach Al {Mitchell} reminded me to stay behind the jab, set the right hand up. She would duck sometimes and make me miss. I started to go to the body. All in all, she’s a tough, durable girl. That’s why we chose her for this fight. We knew she would push me, but I feel like I did well.”
Mayer, (17-0, 5KO) faced a tough challenger in Han, an IBF champion herself as of 2018. Early on, Han fared well and opened a cut above Mayer’s eye which was ruled to be from a punch per referee Ray Corona.
With trainer Manny Robles serving as cut man in Mayer’s corner, Mayer was able to fight through both the cut and the stiff competition in Han.
Mayer’s offense would at times overwhelm Han, (18-5-1, 1KO) who did not go down in the contest, yet Han was not able to return fire enough to push back Mayer, a Los Angeles native.
End results had it for Mayer at 100-90 twice and 99-91.
“I’ve been pretty clear that I want to go undisputed at 130. Baumgardner and Choi, I’ve been calling them out. I want {either} fight, but if they’re not going to give me that fight in a timely fashion, I’m game to go up and challenge the winner of Serrano versus Katie Taylor.”
The co-main event saw Giovanni Santillan continued rise to a title bid with a seventh round stoppage of Jeovanis Barraza.
“I am humbled by the support of my hometown, San Diego, said Santillan, (29-0, 16KO) a southpaw welterweight. “Once again, they came out in force. They motivate me to do my best every time out there.”
Bantamweight brothers hailing from Australia, Andrew and Jason Maloney were both victorious on the nights undercard, with Andrew, the former WBA junior bantamweight champion, stopping Gilberto Mendoza, and Jason scoring a ten round decision win over a game Francisco Javier Pedroza.
Olympian Duke Ragan decisioned Diuhl Olguin for the sixth win of his professional career.
Ragan medaled Silver at the 2021 Olympics.
