With most struggling to pick a winner between Natasha Jonas and Mikaela Mayer in Saturday’s welterweight world title clash, Sky Sports’ boxing experts explain how each fighter is most likely to claim victory.
How can Jonas win?
Trainer and Sky Sports pundit Dave Coldwell:
I think she needs a good jab and I think it’s about timing with her. She’s very experienced now in the game. She’s a fantastic body puncher. She’s been to the well a few times, as in real tough, gruelling fights as well – Katie Taylor and Terri Harper. Good, high-level fights, exciting, kept her composure.
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Watch Jonas’s best knockouts as she prepares to defend her welterweight world title against Mayer
The experience of that, now we’re seeing, and also it’s her state of mind, she’s just so much more relaxed now. Some fighters, when they get beat a couple of times or things don’t go their own way, the pressure kind of goes and with all the stuff that they do in the gym, they allow themselves just to just to flow. She’s in that sort of position now.
The heavier hands, her patience and boxing brain can catch Mayer in between her bouts of aggression. When Mayer is trying to put it on her and throw three, four shots at a time, Mayer’s quite straight up. Tasha’s body shots could have a have a big effect to set up that left hand upstairs.
Former lightweight world champion Anthony Crolla:
It’s so important that Natasha controls the range.
Tasha can really punch. However, in this fight she’s got to be prepared for 10 hard, two-minute rounds. And certainly, in the latter half of the fight – there’s no doubt that Tasha’s getting older, but if you look at performances as of late, she really is a fine wine – rather looking for threes, fours, it’s got to be quality over quantity.
It’s going to be the eye-catching shots of Natasha Jones that are going be key. That straight back-hand is key, both to head and body. But I really do think it’s a fight of two halves.
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Jonas refused to give away any of her tactics to beat Mayer and paid tribute to boxing trailblazer Jane Couch who will be joining her on the ringwalk
Former cruiserweight world champion and Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson:
Pace is the key. They’re both very skilled, ambitious, well schooled.
One is 33, one is 39 years old, so therefore, if Tash can control that pace, then we expect it to be how it should be for Tash with the experience that she’s got.
She did say that she’s been guilty of having slow starts in the past, so now that she understands that, I think she’ll come out with a higher energy rate and a higher hit output, which is good.
Sky Sports commentator Andy Clarke:
It won’t be her favourite comparison because Callum Smith is her friend, but you look at what Beterbiev did with Callum Smith last week. He came straight out, the first 45 seconds, and just laid down this marker quick.
I think that she will look to do that, and you can do that without being gung-ho or reckless.
How can Mayer win?
Former super-welterweight Commonwealth champion and Sky Sports pundit Stacey Copeland:
With Tasha, is she going to be able to maintain the pace that you would expect Mikaela to be able to set? We saw in Mayer’s fight with [Maiva] Hamadouche, that was a frenetic pace, it was unbelievable. We know she can do that, she’s got that in the tank – can Tasha match that? I believe she can, but we don’t know until she gets in there.
She’s got to make Tasha uncomfortable. She’s got to put it on her and not give her any space and time because once she gets in a rhythm, she will pick you off. So with somebody like that, you do not want to give them the space and time to take those little step backs that she’s so good at, to then come in and out of range.
You’ve got to keep them under pressure. So if she can do that, then obviously she puts herself in with a better chance. She did that well, I thought, for large parts of the Alycia Baumgardner fight, she’s another one who likes that time and space and moving back on the back foot.
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Mayer says she’s not a fighter who takes her time and Jonas can expect a fast aggressive start
Trainer and Sky Sports pundit Dave Coldwell:
It’s got to be work rate, but it’s got to be educated work rate, knowing when to go and when not to.
Because otherwise she’s going to walk onto the power punches.
For somebody like Mikaela, I feel as though she’s got to get that momentum in this fight straight away, get that jab pinging straight away, knocking Tasha’s head back, getting that range so she can find the straight shots and then have quick feet to get back out of range.
She’s got to have better feet in this fight than Natasha Jonas because whereas Jonas may not have the quickest feet moving around the ring, she places them really well. She’s very confident in her defence and power punching to cut the ring down.
Mikaela has got to raid her shots. Be sharp, angles, be sharp, angles. She can’t really stand there and allow Tasha to beat her body up.
Former lightweight world champion Anthony Crolla:
Mayer’s got to start fast and she’s got to be prepared to come from behind. She’s got to look to set a pace and she’s got to look to not let Tasha establish any kind of rhythm.
Mayer takes a very good shot, but getting hit in those small gloves isn’t nice.
Defensively early on, like with any fight, she’s got to start fast but she can’t be reckless because, you get hit, even if you don’t go over, it takes it out of you for the second half of the fight.
I believe that Mayer is going to try to come on strong in the second half of the fight.
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Hear from Jonas and Mayer as they prepare to go head to head in Liverpool
Sky Sports commentator Andy Clarke:
She’s got to try to bring educated pressure to her basically, keep her under pressure and make her work when she doesn’t necessarily want to.
Because Jonas has that kind of movement where she can throw a combination, maybe step off, nick a few seconds rest and then look to go again. And then when she does that, that’s when you’ve got to get on her. Now that makes it a hard fight, but I think if she’s going to win, that’s what she has to do.
She’s got that work rate, she’s got that aggression, I do think that she can take a shot, I don’t think that she’s going to buckle at any point, but at the same time, blind speed is no good.
Your speed has got to find the target because Jonas has got good timing. If you just come in with blind speed, then she will pick you off.
Watch Jonas vs Mayer live on Sky Sports Arena at 7pm and Sky Sports Main Event at 8pm this Saturday. Stream boxing on Sky Sports with NOW