Mayer Gives Up 154 Belt While Holding WBO Welterweight Title

Mikaela Mayer has given up the WBO junior middleweight title, a move confirmed this week by WBO president Gustavo Olivieri. The belt she took from Terri Harper by clear decision in October 2025 now sits vacant, untouched, and quietly inconvenient for a division already light on direction.

Mayer is walking away from 154 pounds after one fight, choosing to stay planted at welterweight where she already holds the WBO belt. The message is plain. One division offers names, television slots, and a path to undisputed. The other offers waiting.

A belt won, then immediately abandoned

Mayer’s win over Harper was easy, the sort of fight that looks clear on paper but asks real questions in the gym. She boxed well over twelve rounds, kept order, and used size responsibly. It also showed the limits of her comfort at 154. The pace was steady, and the physical tax obvious by the later rounds.

Holding titles in three divisions sounds impressive, and it will draw praise from fans who count belts. Trainers see something else. Mayer is strongest when she does not need to drag extra weight or absorb it. Welterweight fits her engine and her balance better. Junior middleweight asked for compromises she does not want to make twice.

Welterweight rewards patience, not shortcuts

At 147, Mayer already owns real ground. She is coming off a run that has steadied her profile after earlier career turbulence, and the division itself has shifted since 2025. Names have moved, stalled, or aged.

Undisputed talk always sounds louder than it plays out, yet the welterweight picture at least gives Mayer negotiating leverage. She does not need to rush. She can wait for the right fight without draining herself.

The WBO has offered no plan to fill the vacant junior middleweight title. No eliminators, no orders, no urgency. That tells its own story. The division lacks a clear top-contender ready to be pushed, and sanctioning bodies move fastest when money pushes them.

Mayer leaving creates opportunity for someone else, but not momentum. Until a real fight is ordered, the belt is just metal.