Boxing expert Chris Oliver has been in cracking form of late, and returns with previews of the big-fight action on Friday and Saturday night.
Boxing betting tips: Sandy Ryan v Mikaela Mayer
2pts Sandy Ryan to win by decision at 13/10 (bet365)
1pt double Rhiannon Dixon and Peter McGrail both to win by decision at 13/8 (Sky Bet)
A week on from the glitz and the glamour of the record-breaking show at Wembley Stadium, it’s back to the bread-and-butter action at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield on Saturday night.
Despite two separate headline fights falling off this card due to injury, we still have an all-British world title contest to look forward to on DAZN as Rhiannon Dixon defends her WBO lightweight belt against Terri Harper.
Harper (14-2-2) is the local here and the one with the pedigree, being a former a two-weight world champion and boxing on the much bigger shows. However, she finds herself as a 7/2 underdog as she drops back in weight against Dixon, who is a best price of 1/4.
Harper completed her fairytale story of going from working in a chip shop to becoming a champion when dominating the experienced Eva Wahlstrom over 10 rounds just down the road at the Sheffield Arena in 2019 to claim the WBC super featherweight strap. However, after a couple of defences, she was stopped by Alycia Baumgardner in 2021 and has struggled to recapture her best form since.
Harper jumped up four weight divisions to win and defend the WBA super welterweight title, before fighting out a draw with ageing legend Cecilia Braekhus and then dropping back to welterweight for a beating at the hands of Sandy Ryan. The manner of that defeat was alarming, as she was retired by her corner after four very one-sided rounds, and that is why she is such a big underdog this weekend.
Coming back down to lightweight should be more suitable for Harper, but she meets a fresher rival in Dixon, who is improving all the time.
Dixon on the up and hard to oppose
A 29-year-old from Warrington, Dixon didn’t start boxing until relatively late in life when she dipped her toe in the white-collar waters but has made up for lost time with 10 straight wins as a professional. She has really impressed since stepping up to 10 rounders, starting with a sixth-round stoppage of Vicky Wilkinson for the Commonwealth belt. Then came a shut-out decision victory against Katharina Thanderz for the European title a year ago, before outpointing Karen Carabajal in fine style to claim world honours.
Carabajal had only lost to Katie Taylor in 23 previous contests and, fighting for the vacant title that Taylor relinquished, Dixon produced a career-best performance to run away with the bout on all three scorecards.
At her best, Harper has good speed and uses her long levers well, but the worry is that her best days are behind her now and she is on the slide. Conversely, Dixon is growing with each fight and it’s tough to go against the favourite here.
Dixon has lovely feet and exceptionally quick hands, with that expected advantage in speed fancied to be the difference in this contest. Constantly feinting and moving, the champion gets her rapid shots off well before bouncing out of range and does so from the southpaw stance. That could be another issue for the underdog, as the last time Harper faced a ‘lefty’ she was lucky to escape with a draw against Natasha Jonas in 2020.
While both of Harper’s defeats came by stoppage, Dixon isn’t noted for her power (only one victory inside the distance) and she is better known for her fancy footwork. With that in mind, it is hard to get away from this being another decision victory for the champion (1/2).
McGrail fancied to outpoint Foster
Peter McGrail and Brad Foster provide chief support in South Yorkshire with their super bantamweight clash.
The highly-regarded McGrail (9-1) lost his unbeaten record via a shock fifth-round stoppage to Ja’Rico O’Quinn in the US just before Christmas, but bounced back with an impressive points win over Marc Leach in April, and he can repeat the dose here.
Foster (15-3-2) is a former British, Commonwealth and European champion, but things have gone downhill for him since losing those straps to Jason Cunningham in 2021 and he has now lost three of his last four outings.
McGrail (1/9) is very a talented southpaw, and this looks like a good time to catch Foster (8/1), but the underdog has never been stopped before and I like the favourite to take this 10-rounder on the scorecards at 8/13.
Doubling up Dixon and McGrail to both win by decision pays just over 13/8 and that could be the way to tackle the Sheffield card.
Ryan and Mayer set for grudge match
Over in New York in the early hours of Saturday morning, the aforementioned Sandy Ryan puts her WBO welterweight crown on the line in a real grudge match against Mikaela Mayer, live on Sky Sports.
Hailing from Derby, Ryan now trains in the US under Emanuel ‘Flick’ Savoy and Kay Karoma, who was part of Mayer’s coaching team for a long time. The latter claims that Ryan stole her trainer and that has led to what seems a genuine rivalry between the pair, which should be good for the fans when they sort it out at the Theater in Madison Square Garden.
The layers are struggling to split them, with Ryan just edging favouritism at 10/11 and 11/10 available for Mayer, who is the bigger name and has home advantage.
A 2016 Olympian, Mayer (19-2) is a former unified super featherweight champion who lost her belts via a razor-thin decision to Alycia Baumgardner at London’s O2 Arena in 2022. Following two routine victories, the American then moved up to this weight for a title challenge against Natasha Jonas in Liverpool earlier this year, only to lose another very close split decision to the local favourite.
So, Mayer could easily still be unbeaten and a reigning two-weight world champion with a bit more luck on the scorecards, but she has lost two of her last four and the 34-year-old badly needs a win here. Unfortunately for her, Ryan is in the form of her life and improving all the time.
Also a fine amateur, Ryan has been fast-tracked as a professional and, despite an early setback loss to Erica Farias which was quickly avenged, she became a champion in just her seventh contest. The 31-year-old was desperately unlucky to only get a draw when clearly outboxing Jessica McCaskill in a unification bout in the US 12 months ago, before producing the demolition job on Harper in the spring.
We already knew she had plenty of skill, but the way she battered and bullied Harper over the four completed rounds showed another side to her game. Unlike against the smaller Jonas, Mayer is facing a proper welterweight now and that presents a different test.
Both ladies like to throw plenty of leather and won’t be hanging around, so this should be all-action, and I expect their styles to gel very well. However, Mayer has more miles on clock and facing a strong, in-form welterweight at this stage of her career could prove tough.
I am a big fan of Ryan, and I fancy the Brit to register a big away victory, most likely by decision at 13/10.
CLICK HERE to back Ryan by decision with Sky Bet
Preview posted at 0955 BST on 27/09/24