Boxing results: Mayer defeats Ryan, Baumgardner-Persoon ends in no contest

This weekend belongs to women’s boxing. Two title fights took place in New York and Georgia on Friday, and a third will happen in Sheffield, England, on Saturday.

On Friday at The Theater inside Madison Square Garden in New York, Mikaela Mayer defeated Sandy Ryan to win the WBO welterweight title.

Ryan was traveling to the U.S for the second time in a year to face Mayer. Ryan had won the title with a unanimous decision victory over Marie-Pier Houle in April 2023. After her unification fight with WBC and WBA champion Alycia Baumgardner ended in a draw, she fought — and defeated — Terri Harper in a fourth-round TKO in March.

On Friday night, as Ryan left her hotel for the venue, she was struck by an open red paint can from an unidentified man. She said she felt something “smash” into her stomach, and then saw a man in a hoodie run to a car and drive away. Ryan was uninjured and made her way to the venue after changing clothes in her hotel room.

Ryan and her team told ESPN they believed it was a member of Mayer’s camp, an accusation Mayer denied.

“Mikaela Mayer is going to get it,” Ryan said. “It was definitely a setup from her team. What else would it be?”

Mayer lost her WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles to Baumgardner by split decision in October 2022. She moved up in weight after that and defeated Lucy Wildheart by unanimous decision to win the WBC interim lightweight title in April 2023. Mayer moved up again and lost a split decision to Natasha Jonas in January challenging for the IBF welterweight title.

Also on Friday, Baumgardner put her WBC junior lightweight on the line against Delfine Persoon at Trilith Studios Town Stage in Fayetteville, Georgia, but the fight ended in a no contest in the fourth round following an accidental headbutt that left Persoon with a gash over her right eye. This was Baumgardner’s first fight since testing positive for two banned substances during a voluntary anti-doping test ahead of her July 23 bout against Christina Linardatou (decision was overturned).

Baumgardner (15-1-1 NC, 7 KOs), of Woodland Hills, California, became the undisputed junior lightweight champion by defeating Elhem Mekhaled by unanimous decision on Feb. 4, 2023. She made one defense against Linardatou.

Persoon (49-3-1 NC, 19 KOs), of West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, is a two-time lightweight champion. She lost her belt to Katie Taylor, attempting to unify all four lightweight belts in June 2019.

Saturday in Sheffield, England, Rhiannon Dixon puts her WBO lightweight title on the line against current WBA junior middleweight champion Terri Harper (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET).

Dixon (10-0, 1 KO), of Warrington, England, won the belt by defeating Karen Elizabeth Carabajal by unanimous decision in an all-action bout in April, when both fighters suffered cuts. This will be her first defense.

Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), of Doncaster, England, is moving down three divisions for this fight. The last time Harper fought as a lightweight was in March 2022, a unanimous decision victory over Yamila Belen Abellaneda