11/5 ESPN+: Mikaela Mayer vs Maiva Hamadouche (WBO/IBF Super Featherweight Titles)

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Mikaela Mayer-Maiva Hamadouche Title Unification Bout Set, November 5 At Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

BY JAKE DONOVAN
Published Sun Sep 19, 2021, 10:35 PM EDT


November is shaping up to be a huge month for the women’s junior lightweight division.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche are set to collide in a long-pursued WBO/IBF junior lightweight title unification fight. The mouthwatering showdown will headline a November 5 ESPN+ show from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, according to two sources with intimate knowledge of the development.

ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein was the first to report the news.

The bout has been in the works since Mayer’s last win, a ten-round, unanimous decision victory over Erica Farias this past June at the very same venue that will host the biggest fight of her young career. Mayer (15-0, 5KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympian, made the first defense of the WBO title she claimed in a ten-round shutout over then-unbeaten titlist Ewa Brodnicka last Halloween at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Each of Mayer’s last two bouts took place in supporting capacity to three-division titlist and pound-for-pound entrant Naoya Inoue. The upcoming clash with Hamadouche will mark her second career headliner, having previously topped an ESPN telecast in a ten-round win over Helen Joseph last July also at MGM Grand Conference Center. The 31-year-old from Colorado Springs by way of Los Angeles will fight for the sixth straight time in Nevada and her fourth in a row in Vegas.

Hamadouche (22-1, 18KOs) will attempt the seventh defense of her IBF title, which also serves as her U.S. debut and first career fight outside of Europe. The long-reigning titlist from Paris claimed her portion of the junior lightweight crown in a ten-round win over Jennifer Salinas in November 2016. Hamadouche has scored stoppage wins in seven of her last eight starts since then, including five knockouts among her six title defenses.

The agreed-upon clash with Mayer was put on hold until the fourth quarter of 2021 as Hamadouche was already committed to represent France in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics which took place this past summer. Her time on amateur boxing’s highest stage was brief, dropping an opening round decision to Finland’s 40-year-old Mira Potkonen, who went on to make history as the oldest boxer in history to medal in claiming Olympic bronze.

In her most recent pro fight, Hamadouche—who turned pro in 2013—scored an eighth-round knockout of Nina Pavlovic last December on the road in Milan, Italy. The upcoming clash with Mayer will mark the sixth career fight on the road for the 31-year-old Hamadouche.

The bout comes on the heels of another divisional unification bout taking shape. Reigning WBC/IBO champ Terri Harper (11-0-1, 5KOs) is fully healed from an earlier hand injury and is angling to face unbeaten WBA titlist Hyun-Mi Choi, the longest reigning current alphabet titleholder in the sport, male or female. The two were due to collide this past May, only for Harper to aggravate a prior hand injury during training camp and was forced to undergo surgery.

Both sides have confirmed plans for a showdown later this year, with a date in November expected to be revealed in the near future.

Mayer made history, with her win over Joseph serving as the first-ever female bout to headline on ESPN’s flagship network. Her unification clash with Hamadouche will mark the first women’s boxing match to serve as main event of a U.S.-based ESPN+ telecast. The unbeaten titlist also topped an ESPN2 telecast preceding Tyson Fury’s celebrated Vegas debut in June 2019.

The title unification bout lands on a strategically placed date. The show takes place on the eve of the awaited undisputed super middleweight championship showdown between unified WBC/WBA/WBO titlist Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (56-1-2, 38KOs) and IBF beltholder Caleb Plant (21-0, 12KOs), which headlines a November 6 Showtime Pay-Per-View event from nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena.

 

[patscorpio]

Co-main

Janibek Alimkhanuly-Hassan N'Dam Set For Mayer-Hamadouche Undercard November 5

BY KEITH IDEC
Published Thu Sep 30, 2021, 04:36 PM EDT


Janibek Alimkhanuly will face a second straight former WBA middleweight titleholder most known for upsetting Ryota Murata.

BoxingScene.com has learned that the emerging 160-pound contender has agreed to face France’s Hassan N’Dam in a 10-round bout November 5 in Las Vegas. The Alimkhanuly-N’Dam match will be the co-feature before ESPN+ streams a 10-round main event in which Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche will square off for Mayer’s WBO and Hamadouche’s IBF women’s junior lightweight titles from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Alimkhanuly, a Kazakhstan native who lives and trains in Oxnard, California, dominated former WBA world middleweight champion Rob Brant in his most recent fight.

Alimkhanuly (10-0, 6 KOs) dropped Brant during the sixth round and was ahead 80-71 on all three scorecards through eight rounds on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Masayoshi Nakatani undercard June 26 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Brian McIntyre, Brant’s trainer, stopped their scheduled 10-rounder before the ninth round began three months ago.

The 28-year-old Alimkhanuly’s stoppage of Dallas’ Brant (26-3, 18 KOs) marked the fourth straight bout he has won by knockout or technical knockout.

Seventeen months before Brant beat Murata, the 37-year-old N’Dam (38-5, 21 KOs) surprisingly defeated him in their first fight for Murata’s secondary WBA 160-pound championship in May 2017.

Japan’s Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) rebounded by defeating N’Dam convincingly in their immediate rematch. That one-sided 12-rounder was stopped following the seventh round five months later.

N’Dam out-pointed England’s Martin Murray by majority decision in the 12-round fight following his loss to Murata.

His next appearance didn’t unfold nearly as well. England’s Callum Smith, then the unbeaten WBA super middleweight champion, demolished N’Dam in one of the Cameroon-born boxer’s few fights at that division’s limit of 168 pounds in June 2019.

N’Dam defeated Hungarian journeyman Gabor Gorbics (26-21-2, 16 KOs) on points in his most recent action, an eight-rounder that took place July 2.

 

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Melendez-Mattice Replaces Alimkhanuly-N'Dam as Mayer vs. Hamadouche Co-Feature

BY RANDOM HITS
Published Fri Oct 29, 2021, 12:24 PM EDT


Junior lightweights Luis Melendez and Thomas Mattice stayed ready. The contenders, on less than two weeks’ notice, agreed to face off Friday, Nov. 5 in the eight-round co-feature to the Mikaela Mayer-Maiva Hamadouche title unification tilt at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, part of Curio Collection by Hilton.

Melendez-Mattice replaces the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Hassan N’Dam middleweight showdown, which has been postponed to a later date.

The entire card will stream live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Matchroom Boxing and OPI Since 82, tickets starting at $25 are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting AXS.com.

Melendez (16-1, 13 KOs), from Puerto Rico, turned pro with a first-round knockout on a Top Rank card in July 2018. The only blemish on his pro ledger came via split decision defeat in his third pro fight in September 2018. Since that setback, Melendez is 14-0 with 11 knockouts, including eight victories since last December. Mattice (17-2-1, 13 KOs), from Cleveland, Ohio, is no stranger to American boxing fans. He has won two straight fights since a February 2020 majority decision loss to rising lightweight Isaac Cruz on a nationally televised card.

“I’m grateful to Top Rank and ESPN for this opportunity, and I’m coming to give the fight fans a great show,” Melendez said. “When you stay ready, good things happen. I’m always in the gym and in shape, and I give credit to Mattice for being ready as well.”

Mattice said, “I’ve been staying ready, and when the opportunity came to fight Melendez, I did not hesitate. Everybody has been turning me down at 130 pounds. This is a big opportunity.”

In a special feature, undefeated Las Vegas-born junior lightweight Andres “Savage” Cortes will battle Mark Bernaldez in an eight-rounder. Cortes (15-0, 8 KOs) notched more than 100 wins as an amateur, including a pair of triumphs over current undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez. His professional breakthrough came in August in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he knocked out former world title challenger Genesis Servania in one round. That was the first time Servania had been knocked out in 37 professional fights. Bernaldez (23-4, 17 KOs) is a 10-year pro from the Philippines who has won three straight fights by knockout since a July 2020 decision defeat to Albert Bell.

Cortes said, “This is a huge opportunity to show out in front of my fans in Las Vegas. After my big win against Servania, I am coming to do a number on Bernaldez."

In other undercard action:

Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno (14-0-2, 12 KOs) returns in a scheduled eight-round lightweight contest against Damian “El Macho” Araujo (21-3, 8 KOs). Adorno is coming off a pair of draws, including a Fight of the Year contender in April versus fellow unbeaten Jamaine Ortiz. Araujo last fought in April, losing a decision to then-unbeaten junior welterweight prospect Omar Juarez.



Abdullah Mason, a 17-year-old lightweight prodigy from Cleveland, will make his professional debut in a four-rounder against Florida native Jaylan Phillips (1-0, 1 KO). Mason, considered one of America’s top amateur talents, signed with Top Rank earlier this month and is managed by James Prince.



Unbeaten middleweight prospect Tyler “Hercules” Howard (19-0, 11 KOs) returns from a nearly year-long layoff to fight the upset-minded Ian Green (14-2, 11 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Howard was last seen on the Terence Crawford-Kell Brook undercard grinding out an eight-round decision over KeAndrae Leatherwood.

 

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Mikaela Mayer, Maiva Hamadouche Make Weight For WBO/IBF Title Unification Clash In Las Vegas

BY JAKE DONOVAN
Published Thu Nov 04, 2021, 04:28 PM EDT


Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche are set for the first step towards crowning an undisputed champion.

The pair of junior lightweight titlists both made weight for their WBO/IBF title unification bout Friday evening at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Mayer checked in at a fighting fit 129.6 pounds, while Hamadouche was well within the limit at 128.6 pounds for her U.S. debut.

Mayer (15-0, 5KOs) attempts the second defense of her WBO title. The Los Angeles native—who now fights out of Colorado Springs–earned the crown in a dominant ten-round, unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten titlist Ewa Brodnicka last October at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Mayer—who represented the U.S. in the 2016 Rio Olympics—followed the win with a ten-round, unanimous decision over Erica Anabella Farias this past June at the very venue where she aims to become a unified titlist Friday evening.

Hamadouche (22-1, 18KOs) looks to make the seventh defense of the IBF title she has held for just shy of five years. The 31-year-old Paris native won her crown in a ten-round decision over Jennifer Salinas in November 2016, having since stopped seven of her last eight opponents including an eighth-round knockout of Nina Pavlovic last December on the road in Milan, Italy.

The title unification clash with Mayer will mark the first pro bout of 2021 for Hamadouche, who represented France in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics this past summer.

Below are the weights for the six-fight undercard which will air live on ESPN+ beginning at 8:00 pm Eastern/5:00 pm Pacific and local time.

Luis Melendez (16-1, 13KOs), Miami, 131.4 pounds vs. Thomas Mattice (17-2-1, 13KOs), Cleveland, 131.4 pounds—8 rds, junior lightweight

Andres Cortes (15-0, 8KOs), Las Vegas, 131.6 pounds vs. Mark Bernaldez (23-4, 17 KOs), 131.2 pounds—8 rds, junior lightweight

Joseph Adorno (14-0-2, 12KOs), Allentown, Pennsylvania, 139.2* pounds vs. Elias Damian Araujo (21-3, 8KOs), Monte Coman, Argentina, 136 pounds—8 rds, lightweight

*Adorno 2.2 pounds over the contracted 137-pound limit

Abdullah Mason (pro debut), Cleveland, 135.4 pounds vs. Jaylan Phillips (1-0, 1KO), Ebro, Florida, 136.6 pounds—4 rds, lightweight

Tyler Howard (19-0, 11KOs), Crossville, Tennessee, 160 pounds vs. Ian Green (14-2, 11KOs), Paterson, New Jersey, 160 pounds—8 rds, middleweight

Martez McGregor (8-5, 6KOs), Maywood, Illinois, 166.8 pounds vs. Rowdy Legend Montgomery (6-3-1, 4KOs), Victorville, California, 164 pounds—6 rds, super middleweight

 

[patscorpio]

 

[patscorpio]

well i havent heard them play g unit i wanna get to know you in a min lol...that was a parking lot pimpin song in my college clubbing days lol

 

[Derek Lee]

Brutal knockout

 

[patscorpio]

brutal fukking knockout

 

[aceboon]

Isn't dude getting knocked out the same nikka who was throwing muay thai elbows on a pbc card a few months ago?

 

[patscorpio]

those TR cameras like to linger too much on brutally knocked out fighters lol

 

[patscorpio]

Isn't dude getting knocked out the same nikka who was throwing muay thai elbows on a pbc card a few months ago?

yeah the one kyrone davis barely beat

 

[patscorpio]

howard is getting boxed up and in check by green

 

[Derek Lee]

Vergil Ortiz is now a Reynoso fighter. wow

 

[patscorpio]

vergil ortiz switching trainers from robert garcia to eddy reynoso..interesting