As soon as Alycia Baumgardner arrived home in Detroit, Michigan, last week, the newly minted Ring and unified junior lightweight women’s world champion got a chance to bask in Chick-fil-A, laundry and got to watch her split-decision victory over previously unbeaten Mikaela Mayer at the O2 Arena in London on October 15 numerous times.
Basically, nothing has changed, save for the WBC title and Ring belts she won from Mayer, which the 28-year-old from Fremont, Ohio, will add to the IBF and WBO junior lightweight titles she already has.
Baumgardner (13-1, 7 knockouts) won by 96-95 (twice) to 97-93 in favor of Mayer (17-1, 5 KOs).
Sitting with her coach, Tony Harrison, the former WBC junior middleweight titlist, Baumgardner found herself telling herself internally she could have done even more against Mayer.
“The Bomb” looked good and the scary thing is, she knows she could have fought even better.
“I’m my biggest critic, so only I know what I’m capable of doing and there is so much more, and you get that with each fight,” Baumgardner said. “People are going to want to see Alycia Baumgardner after this. But life hasn’t really changed. I’m sure it’s coming, but I like my daily routine. I went straight home, and I enjoy my own company. I got back into my element, I unpacked my bags, did some cleaning, and did some laundry, and I enjoyed the process.
“I didn’t get to fully celebrate (laughs). I went back to reality, who I am and what I’m about, that’s an accurate depiction.”
Baumgardner emerged as the No. 8 pound-for-pound best female fighter in the world, a notch above Mayer. She said she would like to accomplish more in boxing before thinking about fighting Mayer again. She wants to come back in early to mid-2023 to fight again. Her aim is to fight WBA titlist Hyun Mi Choi for the undisputed 130-pound world title.
There are also big days a weight class above in undisputed lightweight world champion Katie Taylor and title contender Amanda Serrano, The Ring’s No. 1, and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters, respectively, below No. 1 Claressa Shields.
“I would like to move up to 135, or I’ll put it this way, I wouldn’t mind (moving up),” Baumgardner said.
In the meantime, The Bomb is going to give her body time to rest, while she’s in the process of building her brand into a household name. The Mayer victory was a big step. At the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius fight at Barclays Center on the same night, many at ringside were interested in the Baumgardner-Mayer outcome.
“That’s awesome to hear,” she said. “I think our fight brought different eyes to the sport and I believed it showed that there are other women out there. I’m one of those women who happened on the scene, and my process and journey speaks for itself that people are excited to see something. It was a great fight between Mayer and I.”
Baumgardner will be a consideration for 2022 Female Fighter of the Year, along with Taylor. She says she’s going to take a vacation, come back and train and work on her modeling.
“London was great, and that was my third time fighting over there and I received nothing but love,” Baumgardner said. “But I would like to fight in the U.S. for my next fight.”
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com].
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