Sandy Ryan vs Mikaela Mayer: 'Hit and run' paint attack disturbed final preparation for first fight, Briton says

28 March 2025, 06:11 | Updated: 28 March 2025, 08:31

Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer are both looking for a definitive conclusion to their rematch this weekend after a bizarre paint attack marred their first fight.

Britain's Ryan lost the WBO welterweight world title to Mayer last September in New York, but only after she was doused with paint when leaving her hotel to travel to the arena at the Madison Square Garden Theatre.

Ryan is adamant that incident disrupted her preparations ahead of a fight which she lost to Mayer by majority decision. They will now rematch in Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports Action from midnight on Sunday morning.

• Mayer rebuked by former coach ahead of Ryan fight: 'She made it personal'
• Sandy has a weak mentality' - Mayer's rematch taunt to Ryan
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW
• Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want!

"A hit and run or whatever you want to call it. A guy got out of his car and threw a can of paint on me about three hours before I was about to get into the ring. It disturbed a little bit of the preparation," Ryan told Sky Sports.

"But we just went ahead. I'm a fighter at the end of the day. So I got on with the fight. I'd done a full camp in Las Vegas already so I wasn't going home without finishing the job.

"With regards to my performance, I didn't rate it but that was because of me fighting with aggression, too much of it, just constantly coming forward, not bothering about what was coming back at all.

"The result, it was close enough that you couldn't really argue either way."

Mayer doesn't want any type of incident to overshadow this rematch. "I'm not worried. I'm not going to sit here and worry about that," she told Sky Sports.

"It's possible," she suggested. "What if someone wants to retaliate on me? If another crazy fan thinks that it was me and wants to retaliate on me."

Promoter Bob Arum told Sky Sports: "I don't understand it. Who would do anything like that? It seems peculiar.

"Believe me it wasn't Mikaela, or Mikaela's people. They're not those kind of people. They're really upstanding people. I really think if somebody did that, it was just a prank from somebody outside or somebody who had a beef against Sandy."

Paint-gate - what we know

Boxing is littered with an unusual incidents but the paint attack Sandy Ryan suffered in the hours before her first fight with Mikaela Mayer was surely a first.

Ryan, from Derby, was in New York as the defending WBO welterweight world champion in September.

The build up to the fight had grown bitter. A key point of contention was Ryan joining Mayer's training set-up, which prompted the American to leave Kay Koroma's gym. Koroma will be in Ryan's corner for the rematch this weekend in Las Vegas.

But the incident that left Ryan doused in paint was a shock. She was leaving her hotel to travel to the fight arena at the Madison Square Garden Theater when an unknown individual flung paint over her.

The Briton released a picture of the aftermath and speculation mounted whether she would go through with the fight itself. She did but ultimately lost a majority decision to her rival.

Ryan, in the heat of the moment, initially blamed Mayer or her team but there was no evidence to support that allegation and Mayer has vehemently denied any involvement.

The police in New York opened an investigation but the culprit remains a mystery.

Ryan is convinced the paint attack affected her performance against Mayer in that first fight.

"It did have an effect because I fought with emotion and anger as the people that know me, they've seen that," Ryan previously told Sky Sports.

Mayer told Sky Sports: "The way she reacted to the paint thing and taking a photo shoot and all that, I can tell that she's easily flustered. That's not good. At the end of the day, this sport is all mental, so you've got to have your head right.

"I think she's realised that was not me, despite our rivalry," she added. "Neither one of us wanted to jeopardise that fight from happening obviously. It was such a big fight at Madison Square Garden.

"I think she came to her senses. They got the footage back. We all saw the footage. Just some random guy who was sitting in a car behind her and came up and threw paint."

Watch the Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan rematch live on Sky Sports Action from midnight on Sunday morning.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Sandy Ryan vs Mikaela Mayer: 'Hit and run' paint attack disturbed final preparation for first fight, Briton says