Sandy Ryan had paint thrown at her, as she was leaving the hotel for her title defense against Mikaela Mayer in New York. The pair is scheduled to battle it out live on ESPN from The Theater at Madison Square Garden on September 27.
The British WBO welterweight champion seemed shaken after the attack, and believed it was someone from her opponent’s team. The latter reportedly stated she had nothing to do with what had happened.
“I left my hotel room to meet my team downstairs. Cars… There are two cars… Opened the doors… Waiting for my team… Ready to get in…,” Ryan said in an interview with ESPN. “I turn around to walk into the card… Next thing was someone smashed me in my stomach. I looked down and it was a tin of paint. Look up – a with a hood on running to a car, and then they drove off. Was it a hit and run… We got pictures and videos…”
“Mikaela Mayer is getting it. This is definitely someone from her team. Who else could it be? I am from the UK. Who is gonna hit and run me? Who knew what time I was coming out of my hotel to come to the venue? Who knew someone’s in the hotel saying ‘she is coming now’ and know what time I was coming out to the venue with my team?”
Sandy Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs) was back in the hotel, shored, changed and left for the venue. The 31-year-old puts her WBO 147 lbs title on the line for the third time.
“I’m here now, regardless,” Ryan said when asked about her reaction. “Keep throwing anything at me. That’s what they were trying to do. I’ve stayed calm all week, I’ve been professional. I’ve done my job. They are still trying to make a way of running me and my mindset to defend my belt. But, I’m here to fight.”
“If you want war, Mikaela Mayer – we gonna have war. 10 rounds war.”
Mikaela Mayer (19-2, 5 KOs) makes the second attempt to become a world champion in her second weight division. The 34-year-old native of Woodland Hills, California is a former unified super featherweight titleholder.