Mikaela Mayer upsets Sandy Ryan after paint controversy

Mikaela Mayer claimed the WBO welterweight championship on Friday, upsetting Sandy Ryan by majority decision after 10 rounds to punctuate a controversial evening.

Mayer improves to 20-2 with five KOs after the victory. One judge scored the bout even at 95-95, while the other two scored it 96-94 and 97-93 in favor of the American.

Leading up to the event, Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) had red paint thrown at her during an incident before her title fight against Mayer.

The incident occurred on the street as Ryan was leaving her hotel to travel to Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theater.

"I left my hotel room (to) meet my team downstairs. There are two cars there waiting for my team," Ryan recounted to ESPN. "I open the doors, ready to get in. I turned around to go walk into the car, next thing I (saw) somebody smashed me in my stomach, and I looked down; it was a tin of paint. Looked up (and saw) a guy with a hood up running to a car, and then they drove off."

After arriving at MSG, Ryan accused Mayer's team of being behind the assault.

"It's got to be," she said. "I'm from the UK. Who's 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's coming now.' They know what time I'm coming out of the venue with my team."

The tension has been building ahead of Friday's Ryan-Mayer showdown, as the two pugilists have a bitter rivalry with one another. Mayer felt that she was betrayed by longtime coach Kay Koroma, who began working with Ryan last year, per ESPN's James Regan.