CHRISTINA LINARDATOU WILL return to the ring Saturday against Mikaela Mayer. While no title will be on the line, it’s a fight of significance, as Mayer is the type of opponent Linardatou worked toward facing again.
However, it’s just not the fight — or fighter — she initially wanted or expected to see.
Linardatou had been the WBO’s mandatory challenger for Chantelle Cameron’s undisputed junior welterweight championship. Linardatou held the WBO title in 2021 when she became pregnant. To not hold up the division, Linardatou vacated her belt with the understanding she’d be the mandatory challenger to whoever was the champion after she had her child and was ready to return.
And she did become the mandatory challenger after Cameron defeated Jessica McCaskill in November. However, this came with a literal cost — which is why Linardatou is fighting Mayer at lightweight on Saturday (ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET).
The WBO has no exception for purse splits for a fighter vacating her title due to…
