Alycia Baumgardner and the significance of being humble

THEY say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and Alycia Baumgardner has left each large open for the boxing world to look by way of. The 28-year-old’s stare, as she talks to [i]Boxing Information[i], is sort of unsettling.

“Mikaela [Mayer] has been spoiled her entire profession,” Baumgardner declares about Saturday evening’s opponent. “She [Mayer] actually doesn’t know what she’s acquired herself into by taking this struggle in opposition to me. Many issues have been handed to her on a silver platter all through her profession; she must be humbled. Our paths couldn’t have been a lot totally different. She’s come up by way of the Olympic route and has been given each alternative as a professional with out having to struggle for it.

“I’ve been pressured to wager on myself and take the longer path to the place I wish to be – which she clearly doesn’t respect. We now have to be sensible after we use the phrase [i]privilege[i] however I imply it within the sense that, with out the deserves of her [i]private[i] work, she has loved perks and afforded alternatives that weren’t obtainable to me. However for me, it simply exhibits we’re used to a [i]very[i] totally different sort of battle; and a special kind of grind, and I’m cool with that.”

Baumgardner continues to be new to this stage of consideration. However she’s a pure within the artwork of promoting her expertise. The Ohio fighter burst onto the scene on the finish of 2021 in a late-notice task in opposition to Terri Harper, stopping the beforehand unbeaten Briton decisively within the fourth spherical of their contest because of a spotlight reel proper hand.

Harper’s torso froze centre-ring, as her legs started to bounce in submission, earlier than referee Mark Lyson stopped the bout handing Baumgardner a break-out win within the super-featherweight division. She’ll struggle in the UK for the third time in a row in opposition to Mayer and is starting to really feel at dwelling since signing with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.

“Combating within the UK is nice because the followers actually get behind you. If something, I’m in all probability extra well-known within the UK than I’m within the US after the Harper win,” she defined. “However I’m not naive sufficient to assume that the entire crowd goes to be rooting for Alycia Baumgardner in London. What’s nice about this present is that each one 4 of us ladies will enchantment to totally different sections of the gang and assist – folks will be capable to relate to the tales of myself, Mayer, [Claressa] Shields or [Savannah] Marshall to a sure diploma.

“But when I’m being utterly sincere, I’d have cherished to have been on a separate card to Shields and Marshall. I believe each fights are enormous for girls’s boxing and will individually stand on their very own. However nonetheless, I’m excited that we will have a robust girls’s card and be a part of one thing larger than [i]simply[i] girls’s boxing, that is enormous for boxing usually!

“This second will elevate your complete sport by exhibiting how girls can maintain a complete card collectively and entertain the followers simply in addition to our male counterparts. With these fights, we’re not simply elevating boxing, however we’re additionally setting the tone for what all girls’s athletics can and must be sooner or later. However finally, I’m not certain there’s a must separate playing cards and make some extent of distinguishing between males’s or girls’s fights.”

As a lot as we talk about the broader boxing panorama, the dialog naturally reverts again to September 10 and dealing with her rival, Mayer, within the reverse nook. The pair have loved months of verbal sparring forwards and backwards on social media, however Baumgardner is savvy sufficient to confess it’s a part of the sport.

“I’m not somebody that hates anybody actually,” the 28-year-old defined. “However she’s simply been very annoying. And so boring! I assume it simply comes right down to the straightforward undeniable fact that I do know I can beat her, so when she claims to be so superior on a regular basis it doesn’t sit proper with me.

“Certain, she is aware of ‘ring’ however I can’t pinpoint something that she does that’s excellent in any approach. She’s skilled and does all the things {that a} boxer ought to do, however nothing further. However her most important weak point is that she leaves herself open to getting hit fairly often. She’s been harm earlier than greater than as soon as. The [Maïva] Hamadouche struggle confirmed me that she places her face on the market to get hit. And in case you get hit by me, you’re undoubtedly gonna see the canvas.”

Baumgardner doesn’t cease there. Any ideas of interjecting are quickly rebuffed as she dials right into a deeper evaluation of her rival. Turning into increasingly agitated, she reaches a crescendo in her evaluation of the 32-year-old.

“Her footwork is horrible!” she claims, stopping herself from laughing. “It’s that typical novice fashion that hasn’t transitioned properly into the professionals. She’s not sharper than me, she’s not quicker than me, she’s not smarter than me. All she’s acquired is an enormous will to win, and I’ll break that.”

Baumgardner has reaped the rewards of a full camp for this struggle, one thing that has grow to be a rarity all through her profession for quite a few causes. As an up-and-coming fighter, she’s been pressured to seize alternatives after they come up, unwilling to attend in line for that perceived good second.

“No person has seen Alycia at this stage or this ready,” she continues. “I’m an athlete above all the things; my athleticism speaks for itself. I’m at all times in form, so I’ve been specializing in sharpening up throughout this camp. All the pieces I’m good at. My jab? Even quicker. My punch? Even stronger.”

With a defeat on her report and a harder path to the highest, Baumgardner is satisfied she has discovered the onerous approach for the higher. “You study by way of robust instances, not by way of a scarcity of challenges,” she concludes, earlier than ending our dialog as severe and confident as she began.

“There is no such thing as a doubt that I’m the largest pound-for-pound puncher within the girls’s sport – simply ask Christina Linardatou or Terri Harper. Mikaela Mayer is subsequent to search out this out first hand. This struggle received’t go previous seven rounds. I’m going to canine stroll her; hit her so onerous that her face might be tousled eternally. You’ll see.”