Women’s Ratings Update: Jonas and Mayer break in at 147, atomweight reshuffle
It was billed as the “Leonard-Hearns of women’s boxing,” and it delivered all the action and the controversy that the two fights between those legends of the ring of yesteryear produced back in the day.
Natasha Jonas and Mikaela Mayer had one of the best fights of the year so far in a welterweight clash that saw Jonas keep her IBF belt and Mayer walk away with the mantle of the “moral winner,” as she was perceived by many (including several members of this panel, this writer included) as the best woman in the ring on that night.
Still, a win is a win, and results are made to be overturned in future rematches. Let’s hope ‘Tasha and Mikaela run it back soon enough and settle this feud once and for all – or at least until they meet in a rubber match.
For now, our esteemed panel has decided that both Jonas’ and Mayer’s effort should earn them a place in our welterweight ratings, and that’s No. 1 for Jonas and No. 2 for Mayer.
“Jonas- Mayer was one more fight to add to the list of epic fights in history,” said author and TV producer Yesica Palmetta. “Mayer was superior in strength and power. Contrary to what one might think of a fighter coming from lower divisions, Mayer was very strong.”
“Jonas started strong and I questioned how well Mayer would carry the extra weight,” added writer Christopher Benedict, “but it was Mikaela who turned on the afterburners and closed the show emphatically enough to have gotten the win.”
Cynthia Conte agreed by saying that “I was wondering how Mayer would carry the weight in her new division. She looked fantastic. Mayers punches were heavy, landing clean and much more effectively.”
Mayer was previously rated at No. 4 in the junior welterweight division, where she had fought only once. Assuming (as confirmed by her promoter) that she will remain at 147 for the foreseeable future, Mayer was dropped from the 140-pound ratings, and unbeaten prospect Samantha Worthington was brought in at No. 5.
In the previous week, a number of fights took place in the largely dormant atomweight division, with several results upending our ratings almost completely.
Japan’s Eri Matsuda just picked up two belts after beating our now former No. 1 Yuko Kuroki. Tina Rupprecht dropped down from strawweight to defeat an unbeaten lifelong atomweight in Fabiana Bytyqi, and unbeaten young gun Sumire Yamanaka also grabbed a belt in her win over Mika Iwakawa. Therefore, our atomweight ratings are now as follows:
102 pounds (atomweight)
The Ring Champion: VACANT
1 – Tina Rupprecht
2 – Eri Matsuda
3 – Sumire Yamanaka
4 – Yuko Kuroki
5 – Fabiana Bytyqi
Since Rupprecht moved down to 102 pounds, Yadira Bustillos was picked to be the new No. 5 at strawweight.
Diego M. Morilla has written for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
