WBO female super featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer became involved in a bizarre racism spat after commenting on the upcoming Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight, where she backed the 'Gypsy King' to win.
Undefeated pugilist Mayer made history in August when forming the first all-female broadcast team with Crystina Poncher for ESPN as Joshua Franco faced Andrew Moloney in Tulsa.
Via her Twitter account, the 15-0 fight queen often gives her two cents on upcoming bouts, with the third showdown between WBC heavyweight ruler Fury and former champion Wilder in Las Vegas this weekend a big offering from ESPN, considering their deal with the Top Rank promoter Mayer shares with the Mancunian.
Sharing her thoughts, Mayer revealed that she has "always been a Tyson Fury fan" and added: "He’s got great boxing skills and a personality that boxing needs! I’m #Teamfury this weekend."
Somewhat strangely though, that set off a row – with some social media users suggesting Mayer's backing for Fury was for racial reasons.
"We all know why Fury [is] your guy..." replied one user, a Claressa Shields fan, along with a gif of a black person raising an eyebrow.
This accompanied other responses such as "racism eradicates patriotism" and calling Mayer a flat-out "racist" for supporting Brit star Fury over American fighter Wilder.
But Mayer had a trump card up her sleeve.
"Quite the opposite," she began, while quote tweeting the post that implied she would back Fury due to them both being white.
"My king is chocolate," she added with a love heart, to caption a photo of her with her black partner and former Las Vegas Raiders punter Marquette King enjoying drinks poolside.
Some observers called it a "weird flex" from Mayer and left sarcastic comments like "okay...," while one person wrote: "I’m still absolutely deceased that Mikaela Mayer though the best way to respond to a Wilder fan calling her racist was to refer to her boyfriend as a chocolate man."
However, elsewhere responses were far more supportive.
"Absolutely disgusting that this fight became a race row with some 'fans'," wrote one person.
"Good for you MM for putting her [the other Twitter user] in her place."
"Well said. And to the muppet inferring race bias, think for a second or two," said another.
"I’m sure Mikaela Mayer went with her knowledge, and if you’ve listened to her commentate you’ll she’s very knowledgeable."
One person asked: "But if there was a bias, wouldn’t it be [because] they’re both team Top Rank?"
Still not everyone was bowled over, though.
"I can always count on a dumb white woman for good entertainment," balked a critic.
The back-and-forth continued as the social media user chimed in: "See, that's your guilt. Did I mention race? That's that slowa** Karen Mentality! You think because you [are] thotting with a black man it excuses your racism?"
"Nah it was just an excuse to post a pic of me and my sexy man hehe," Mayer fired back.
"Karen, please..." replied the woman, along with a gif of a black man taking out the trash.
In the past, Mayer has been supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement and in June last year shared a post of how we should "look at BLM as athletes look at injuries".
Meanwhile, Fury meets Wilder in their trilogy showdown at the T-Mobile on Saturday night, having dismantled the American in seven rounds on the last occasion they fought in February of 2020.
The first time the pair met was in December of 2018, which ended in a controversial split-decision draw after Fury had climbed off the canvas in the last round to see out the fight.
"After this fight he’ll be back working at the fast-food chain he was working at the start of his career. Retirement for him,” Fury vowed to his rival at a heated press conference this week.
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