Mayer was due to fight on Tuesday in Las Vegas, on the first boxing card in the United States since mid-March
Mikaela Mayer, the female super featherweight NABC champion, tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday and will not be permitted to fight on Tuesday night in Las Vegas on the first boxing card to take place in the United States since mid-March.
Mayer, who was one of twelve boxers on the card, was due to face Helen Joseph in a non title fight. The event behind closed doors is headlined by Shakur Stevenson and Felix Caraballo.
Mayer was not permitted inside “the bubble”, as the veteran promoter Bob Arum has called it, a sealed off environment within the MGM Casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
Mayer, 29, a former Olympian undefeated in twelve contests, flew to Nevada from Washington DC on Saturday where she had been in training for the event.
Top Rank are the first promotional company to put on a televised boxing card in the United States, with no audience, from inside the Grand Ballroom adjacent to the Conference Center at the MGM. The boxers – each permitted two team members with them – are being housed on one floor, sealed off from the rest of the vast casino resort, with their own dining hall and elevators. The other eleven boxers have all returned negative tests for COVID-19.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport prior to arriving in Las Vegas, Mayer said: “I am so excited to be on this card because I know a lot of people will be watching. It’s an opportunity to grow my career, my brand, bring in some new fans and it’s huge for women’s boxing to have a fight in the first card back. I have a duty to put on a good show for everyone. Show the world what we can do.”
Promoter Arum told Telegraph Sport on Sunday night: “We are very, very sorry for Mikaela having to be removed from the card. She tested positive for coronavirus but is asymptomatic. This is why we have to follow the protocols and do it carefully. She is a great person and we will get her back in action as soon as we can. It is the same for me. If I test positive on Monday night, I will not be allowed to attend the event.”
“And this is the same for referees, judges and anyone else. We have replacements for every role on standby. Luckily, because we had six fights on this card, we have not had to get a replacement fight for Mikaela against Helen Joseph. We will go ahead with five fights.”
This Article First Appeared On The Telegraph