Natasha Jonas conquered a hard test against Mikaela Mayer to maintain her IBF welterweight title with a split-decision success Saturday night at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Two judges scored the fight for Jonas 96-94 and 96-95, and the 3rd for Mayer 97-93.
Jonas (15-2-1, 9 KOs) is a two-division champ and in 2012 she ended up being the very first British lady to take part in boxing at the Olympic Games in London.
Every round in between Jonas and Mayer was close, with Jonas beginning faster and landing the more efficient shots, consisting of penalizing body punches. Mayer (19-2, 5 KOs), a previous junior light-weight champ making her welterweight launching, took control of the fight in the last couple of rounds, busting Jonas’ left eye and backing her up with effective right-hand men.
“I understand she is going to be definitely ravaged with the outcome due to the fact that I’ve existed,” Jonas, who had a questionable split draw against Terri Harper in 2020 and lost a close choice to Katie Taylor in 2021, stated after the fight. “It seems like the world is over. She is on my leading 2 individuals that I’ve combated. She is really proficient. Her time will return. She beat a great deal of the champs.”
Mayer thought she did enough to win and requested a rematch, which, she stated, is should have.
“I landed the cleaner shots,” Mayer stated. “I believe that this fight deserves seeing once again. Like she stated, it was among the most difficult battles she’s had. I didn’t have a rematch stipulation on my side, however I’m hoping we can get this fight done once again.”
Jonas goes up 3 locations and takes the No. 6 area from Mayer, who drops to No. 8.
Here’s the existing leading 10.
Note: Results are through Jan. 25.
1. CLARESSA SHIELDS Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 14-0, 2 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Middleweight undeniable champ
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Maricela Cornejo, June 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. KATIE TAYLOR 
Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 23-1, 6 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Junior welterweight undeniable champ and light-weight unified champ
LAST FIGHT: W (MD10) Chantelle Cameron, Nov. 25
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. AMANDA SERRANO Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 46-2-1, 30 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Featherweight merged champ
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Danila Ramos, Oct. 27
NEXT FIGHT: March 2 vs. Nina Meinke
4. CHANTELLE CAMERON Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 18-1, 8 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Junior welterweight
LAST FIGHT: L (MD10) Katie Taylor, Nov. 25
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. SENIESA ESTRADA Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 25-0, 9 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Strawweight merged champ
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Leonela Yudica, July 28
NEXT FIGHT: March 29 vs. Yokasta Valle
6. NATASHA JONAS 
Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 15-2-1, 9 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Welterweight champ
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Mikaela Mayer, Jan. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. SAVANNAH MARSHALL Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 13-1, 10 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Super middleweight merged champ
LAST FIGHT: W (MD10) Franchon Crews Dezurn, July 1
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. MIKAELA MAYER 
Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 19-2, 5 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Welterweight
LAST FIGHT: L (SD10) Natasha Jonas, Jan. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. JESSICA MCCASKILL Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 12-3-1, 5 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Welterweight merged champ
LAST FIGHT: DRAW (SD10) Sandy Ryan, Sept. 23
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. DELFINE PERSOON Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 49-3, 19 KOs
DEPARTMENT: Junior light-weight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD6) Agustina Marisa Belen Rojas, Nov. 1
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The formula
The rankings are based upon a coming down points system, with a first-place vote getting 10 points, a second-place vote getting 9 points and so on.
Others getting votes: Yokasta Valle (4), Franchon Crews Dezurn (2), Hyun Choi (1)
How our specialists voted
Nick Parkinson: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Jonas, 6. Estrada, 7. Mayer, 8. Marshall, 9. McCaskill, 10. Crews-Dezurn
Salvador Rodriguez: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Estrada, 5. Cameron, 6. Marshall, 7. Jonas, 8. McCaskill, 9. Mayer, 10. Valle
Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Marshall, 6. Jonas, 7. McCaskill, 8. Mayer, 9. Estrada, 10. Crews-Dezurn
Charlie Moynihan: 1. Shields, 2. Serrano, 3. 3. Taylor, 4. Estrada, 5. Jonas, 6. Mayer, 7. Cameron, 8. Persoon, 9. Marshall, 10. Choi
Claudia Trejos: 1. Shield, 2. Serrano, 3. Taylor, 4. Cameron, 5. Marshall, 6. Jonas, 7. Persoon, 8. Mayer, 9. Estrada, 10. McCaskill
Damian Delgado Averhoff: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Estrada, 6. Marshall, 7. Jonas, 8. Valle, 9. Persoon, 10. Mayer
Andrew Feldman: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Estrada, 5. Cameron, 6. Marshall, 7. Jonas, 8. McCaskill, 9. Mayer, 10. Persoon
ESPN specialists’ survey
First location: Shields (6), Taylor (1)
Second location: Taylor (4), Serrano (2), Shields (1)
Third location: Serrano (5), Taylor (2)
Fourth location: Cameron (4), Estrada (3)
Fifth location: Cameron (2), Marshall (2), Jonas (2), Estrada (1)
Sixth location: Marshall (3), Jonas (2), Estrada (1), Mayer (1)
Seventh location: Jonas (3), Cameron (1), Mayer (1), Mcaskill (1), Persoon (1)
Eighth location: Mayer (2), McCaskill (2), Marshall (1), Persoon (1), Valle (1)
Ninth location: Estrada (2), Mayer (2), Marshall (1), McCaskill (1), Persoon (1)
10th location: Crews-Dezurn (2), Mayer (1), McCaskill (1), Persoons (1), Valle (1), Choi (1)
