Sandy Ryan vs. Mikaela Mayer: Ryan hit with can of paint before WBO welterweight world title loss to Mayer

Sandy Ryan was hit with a can of red paint before losing her WBO welterweight world title to Mikaela Mayer in New York when she pointed the finger at her rival over the incident.

Tensions had been high prior to the fight, with Mayer accusing Ryan of poaching her long-standing coaching team, which Ryan denied. Ryan had said she disrespected her opponent and accused her of talking “nonsense.”

But the spiteful rivalry escalated when Ryan was splashed with red paint ahead of the fight, before claiming she was “set up”.

Ryan took the ring at Madison Square Garden as planned, despite her trainer’s advice to withdraw from the fight, but lost by majority decision, making Mayer world champion.

Mayer had the upper hand in the tense discussions in the ring and emerged victorious with scores of 97-93 and 96-94, overruling one judge’s 95-95 draw – but the paint incident dominated the conversations afterwards.

After the fight, Ryan said, “Before I got to the venue, I had a collision (with paint outside the hotel). And that was definitely a set-up. I’m not taking anything away from the win, but it upset me.”

“As I walked up to the venue, I got shocked. And then it kind of threw me off my game plan because I just wanted to fight. And you saw at the beginning of the fight that I was able to handle her pretty well during the jab. I was boxing her and then I started to pick it up but then I obviously pushed it too hard.”

Mayer ‘surprised’ by incident: ‘I would never go that far’

Mayer denied any involvement and later told Sky Sports News: “I was as surprised as everyone else. I was still upstairs waiting for the call that my car had arrived.

“I heard that paint had been thrown on Sandy. I had no idea. I was shocked. I hated it. I would never go that far.”

“Then I heard she thought it had something to do with me and my team, which is disappointing. Sandy is of course my rival and my opponent, but I would never go that far.

“She was adamant that someone from my team had framed her and done that, which is completely untrue, but in my eyes it turned her on. She was even more aggressive and tried to take my head off.

“I don’t know how it affected her. Obviously it wasn’t cool at all and I wish it hadn’t happened, but when the bell rings, all the build-up goes out the window and you come in.”

“I heard after the fight that they were close to calling it off and stopping again. That hits me hard. I’m so glad they didn’t do that. I’m really sorry that happened to her, especially since I was a guest in my country. It is unacceptable.”

Mayer’s undisputed goal after ‘deserved’ victory

The well-documented feud and the incident before it caused hostility to flood into the ring.

Mayer’s strategy was to avoid Ryan’s snags but left himself open to countering rights and lefts as Ryan tried to keep up the pressure.

It paid off for the Brit when a hook in the sixth round tripped Mayer, but the American responded with a powerful counter in the eighth.

Mayer said after the fight: “It was similar to how I thought it would go. Before that, I always said that I respected Sandy as a boxer.

“She has a great pedigree, just like me, but I knew I would beat her. I knew I was faster. I knew I was sharper. And that’s exactly what I did.”

“There’s no rematch clause, but you know me; I’m always willing to give the fans the fight they want to see, so we’ll go back and talk and do what we need to do.

“There are a lot of great fights for me in the welterweight division. Everyone knows my goal: to finish where I started and become undisputed.”